Pokemon DP Alternate Fanfic!
by SnivArtista
Summary: Koya and his father have just moved into Twinleaf Town from Sootopolis City. Following a very unwelcoming scene, Koya meets a townsgirl, who is also an outcast as well. As the two grow up, will their friendship (and good humor) survive unwelcome and disapproving family members, dangerous presences, and traitorship? Before and after the main events of PDPA, rated T for blood.
1. Chapter 1: The Move

**A.N. Hey, everyone! So, I'm back with the rewrite of Pokémon DP Alternate Fanfic! The name will be changed soon-but I don't have any ideas for the new name. If anyone does, feel free to drop me a PM. **

**Also, thanks to all the lovely people who have favorited/followed/reviewed this story. You guys are the best-it makes me happy to know that there are people who read this story and like DP Adventures as well. /group hug. **

**Anything else? Oh yeah, a few notes before I begin. **

**Koya's father is no longer abusive. (I have no idea what I was thinking with that). **

**Phoenix has glasses. Red glasses. **

**The story isn't told from Koya's perspective anymore. **

**Koya is now from Hoenn, which would explain the abundance of Hoenn Pokémon in his party. (And by abundance, I mean two out of four). **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. **

**Okay, that's it. Let's begin!**

The family of two people and one Pokémon looked around at their new home: Twinleaf Town. According to all the Sinnoh guidebooks, it was always beautiful in the summer. The guidebooks were definitely right; Twinleaf Town was absolutely stunning in the month of summer. The trees were full of leaves, the flowers were in full bloom, and it was just the right temperature, not too hot, and not too cold.

"Dad, where's our house?" the youngest member of the family, a six-year-old boy, asked.

The father pulled a picture out of his pocket of their new house. "I think it might be that one over there." He pointed at a small, one-story green house with white window shutters and a white roof.

"Mom would've liked that house," the son said quietly.

"I'm sure that she would've," the father agreed. "Now, come on. All of our stuff should be at the house already."

The son nodded and gestured to his Pokémon-a Growlithe, given to him by his mother. All three of them set off down a dirt road, passing by people on their lawns, and people walking around town. Most townspeople gave the three a judgmental look; after all, people in Twinleaf Town were known to be superstitious. Some even looked away when they saw the party of three coming, and others made a point to try and avoid crossing paths.

"Dad, why are they looking at us like that?"

The father sighed. "They're very superstitious people, Koya. Maybe they just don't trust us."

"Why wouldn't they trust us?" Koya asked. "What's wrong with people from Hoenn?" Growlithe nodded in agreement as he padded along beside his owner.

"There isn't anything wrong with us," his father answered. "Don't worry about it."

"But-"

"Koya," the older man said firmly. "There's nothing wrong with us. I'm sure that the townspeople will warm up to us eventually."

"Or maybe never." Koya muttered as they approached their house. His father took out a key and unlocked the door. When they opened the door, they found all their furniture set up and in place, with numerous boxes around the house, all full of their unpacked possessions.

"Well, are you ready to unpack?" Koya's father asked his less-than-thrilled son. "Or do you want to go explore?"

Koya looked down at Growlithe, who ran around in excited circles. "Can we go look around town?"

His father nodded. "Just come back by lunch."

The blonde and his Pokémon ran out the door and into the welcoming sunshine of the town.

"Growlithe, we should challenge someone!" Koya exclaimed. Growlithe nodded.

"Growli!"

"C'mon, let's see if anyone else has Pokémon here!" With that, the two began scouring the town, searching out potential opponents.

Within a few minutes, the two found a young boy, about Koya's age with a Shuckle. As Koya and Growlithe approached him, the boy turned around and stared at the two with horror written all over his face.

"Do you want to have a battle?" Koya asked.

The boy stood, staring at the Hoenner in complete silence.

"Well, do you?"

The boy still said nothing, and continued staring at the blonde and his Pokémon.

Feeling just a little bit offended, Koya reached out and tapped the frozen boy on the shoulder. "Do you wan to have a battle or not?"

When Koya touched the boy on the shoulder, he seemed to unfreeze.

The first thing to unfreeze was his mouth, unfortunately.

"NOOOO!" the boy screamed, drawing the attention of all the people around them. "GREEN-EYE! GREEN-EYE!" He kept screaming, pointing at the bewildered Koya.

"B-But I didn't do-"

"GREEN-EYE!" The more the boy screamed, the more people gathered around them. "DIRTY GREEN-EYE!"

Whispers and murmurs spread like wildfire across the crowd. It looked almost like the whole town had showed up.

Except, of course, for Koya's father.

"I d-didn't hurt you!" Koya cried, close to tears as he saw the group of people encircle him. "I-I'm sorry!"

More yells began emanating from the crowd, mixing in with the distressed boy's screams.

"Get out, Green-Eye!"

"What a disgrace!"

"You aren't welcome here anymore!"

"Go away!"

Koya sank to his knees, hugging Growlithe tightly. Where was his dad? He was a police officer-surely he could restore order!

"Green-Eye! Green-Eye! Green-Eye!" The whole crowd was jeering at him now, with no sign of letting up. The boy who had started yelling in the first place had been shielded from Koya by some of the adults. Little bits of gravel began raining down on the cowering boy and fire Pokémon.

As the jeers got louder, and the gravel came harder and harder, Koya's survival instincts began to kick in.

They told him one thing.

_RUN. _

Koya and Growlithe jumped up and began pushing through the crowd of people, trying to escape their terrifying prison. They broke free and ran for their lives, the jeers and taunts still ringing in their ears.

The twosome ran faster and faster, not bothering to watch where they were going. Tears began pouring out of Koya's eyes as he kept replaying incident as he ran alongside his Pokémon.

"OW!"

Koya was unceremoniously knocked to the ground with the impact force of colliding with something. He looked up, shaking his blonde hair out of his eyes.

Half lying, half sitting on the ground was a townsgirl, about his age.

**A.N. I don't know about you guys, but I like this version much better already. **


	2. Chapter 2: Phoenix

**A.N. ****Hola, mis amigos. Bienvenido al segundo parto de "Pokémon DP Alternate." ¡Ojalá que ustedes les gustan! **

**Disclaimer: Yep, I do speak some Spanish! I don't own Pokémon! **

Koya shakily sat up and looked at the girl that he had collided with. She was sitting up, with her red glasses askew across her face. He gulped and shielded his face from view, hoping to avoid another screaming scene.

"Hey, watch it!" The girl exclaimed. "You should look where you're going, you know…"

"Sorry." Koya mumbled keeping his gaze directed towards the ground.

"You got something on your face?"

"No!"

"So you're faceless?"

"I'm not faceless!"

"Then look up, for Arceus's sake!" She said, moving over towards him. "It's the least you could do after running into me."

"You're just going to yell at me!" Koya cried. Growlithe padded over to its Trainer, and nuzzled his arm comfortingly.

"Why would I yell at you?"

"B-Because I have green eyes!"

The girl regarded the boy in front of her strangely. Green eyes? Then, something inside of her seemed to click. "Are you part of the new family that was supposed to move in today?"

Koya nodded.

"So you're the son of that police officer, right?"

"How do you know about my dad?" Koya asked, looking up a bit.

She shrugged. "Eh, town gossip. People who live in Twinleaf Town are very gossipy."

"Are you?"

"Ay, here and there. Not as much as some people."

"Is that why they don't like me?" Koya asked quietly.

"Why who doesn't like you?"

"All those other townspeople."

The girl sighed. "It's a superstition here. The thing says that if a person has green eyes, they're untrustworthy, mean, and vengeful. And it's further reinforced by the fact that no one in town has green eyes."

"No one?"

"Well, except for you!" She laughed. "Which…is why they're…I guess…afraid of you."

Koya sighed and looked back down at the ground. "But…I didn't do anything wrong!" A few more tears began to fall down his cheeks.

The girl reached out and put a hand on the blonde boy's shoulder. "Don't be upset about it! There's nothing wrong with green eyes!"

Koya shook his head. "But they all hate me!"

"They're not the best people to make friends with anyway," she sighed. "It's probably best that they want to avoid you."

"How do you know that?"

"Uh…I've just…done…things. But...that doesn't really matter!" The girl laughed. "And…well, now that I've told you about the whole 'superstition' thing…will you look up now? I promise, I'm not going to yell…"

Koya slowly looked up at the person sitting before him, shaking some hair out of his eyes. "There. Are you happy now?"

The girl's own brown eyes seemed to glow when she saw Koya's face for the first time. "Your eyes are so COOL!"

"S-Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously! They're so…so…different! And they're just great!"

"Thanks." Koya muttered, looking away.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Koya."

"Awesome! I'm Phoenix!" She exclaimed, standing up.

Koya nodded and stood up slowly as well.

"Hey, where do you live?"

"W-What? Why would you want to know that?"

Phoenix shrugged. "For future reference."

"Uh…well, in that house over there." Koya said, pointing.

"The green one?" Phoenix asked, looking in the direction that Koya was pointing. "Oh, cool! This old lady used to live in that house, but she was really mean. She hated kids. And Pokémon! How could someone hate Pokémon?"

Koya frowned. "What happened to her?"

Phoenix shrugged. "I don't know. I think she moved out or something. But I'm glad she's gone! At any rate, you're much nicer than she is."

A small smile stretched across Koya's face. "Uh…thank you?"

"No problem!" Phoenix laughed. "Well…yeah. I have to go, but…" She looked over at Growlithe and smiled. "Want to have a battle tomorrow?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! I've got a Pokémon too, silly!"

"Okay, then."

"Yay!" Phoenix cheered. "I'll see you tomorrow!" With a wave, she turned around and ran off towards where the crowd had been just a few minutes ago.

Growlithe looked up at its silenced Trainer. "Growli, growli."

"What?" Koya asked. "Oh. Well…" he said as they began walking back towards their house. "I guess we have a new friend, Growlithe. And I know…" Koya said, looking down at his Pokémon. "I'm as surprised as you are."

**A.N. This just feels so relieving. Stay tuned! -Sniv**


	3. Chapter 3: Agent Damien

**A.N. Well, hi! Sorry I haven't been updating- I've been super busy, and then my stupid COMPUTER decides to break down and just not be cooperative, but I did manage to get it fixed! It's still a little laggy (which is driving me nuts), but it's still manageable. So let's not delay!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, but I really like cake. **

Koya and Growlithe soon arrived at their new house: a small, minty-green, one story establishment with window boxes, and a white roof with matching white shutters and a white door.

The blonde knocked quietly on the door, and within a few minutes, his dad appeared in the doorway. Upon seeing his son covered in dirt and red-eyed, he hurried him and his Growlithe into the house, shutting the door quickly behind him.

"What happened to you?" Koya's father asked, sitting him down at the wooden kitchen table. "Why are you covered in dirt?"

"I…fell." Koya mumbled, looking down at the laminate floor.

"Why did you fall?" his father inquired, sitting down in the chair on the opposite side of the table.

"Because I ran into someone." Koya responded, picking Growlithe up and placing him on his lap. "I wasn't looking where I was going, and accidently ran into someone."

"Who was it?"

"It was just a girl my age," the eight-year old replied. "She wasn't mad at me, and she said that she wanted to have a battle with me tomorrow."

His father frowned and looked curiously at his son. "What did she look like?"

"Are you putting together a case file on her or something?" Koya grumbled. "Why does what she looked like matter?"

"Just answer the question," his father sighed.

"She had black hair, brown eyes, red glasses, a red shirt, black leggings, and wasn't wearing any shoes." Koya answered. "There. Are you done interrogating me, Agent Damien Raxby?"

"No, I'm not," Damien said evenly. "And that's no way to talk to your father, Koya. You should know better."

Koya said nothing, but rolled his green eyes in annoyance. When he looked back at his father, he was wearing the same annoyed expression as Koya was.

"This is no laughing matter." Damien sighed. "Koya, I'm not going to let you have a battle with her."

"Well, why not?" Koya snapped. "She's the only person who's nice to me!"

"What do you mean?"

"All the other townspeople tried to attack me because I have green eyes!" Koya cried, slamming a fist on the table. "So, I ran away, then I ran into Phoenix, an-"

"Phoenix?!" his father yelled.

"Yes, Phoenix!" Koya said in aggravation. "And she-"

"That settles it." Damien interrupted, standing up and striding over to Koya. "You are not going to have a battle with her. It's too dangerous."

Koya glared up at his father. "Why not? You've bee fine with having me battle other people!"

"Because she's different!" his father raged. "Koya, you are not to have a battle with her, or any other kind of contact!"

"She's different too!" Koya yelled. "The townspeople don't like her either!"

"And they're very smart to!" Damien snapped.

"Oh, and I don't suppose you'll tell me why?" Koya growled.  
"No, I won't. Now go you your room."

"But-"

"Your room. Now."

Growlithe jumped off of its Trainer's lap as Koya walked out of the kitchen, defeated. He turned right down a dimly-lit hallway, and opened the first door on the left, which led to his new bedroom. Upon arriving, he turned on the light and looked around.

The bedroom had beige walls, with a bookcase pushed up against the one to the north, a small desk pushed up against the wall to the west, and his bed was placed right on the east wall, across from two windows. The bed was neatly made, with a black blanket on top, and white pillows.

With a defeated sigh, Koya sat down on his bed and looked out the windows. Through the windows, he could see the front walk of the house, which would be helpful if anyone came to the house.

"Well, I doubt anyone will." Koya muttered, folding his arms. Growlithe jumped up on the bed beside him. "Growlithe…what's dad's issue with Phoenix, anyway? She didn't seem like a bad person."

"Growl, growlithe, growli."

"Yeah, yeah…but he is a member of the International Police…maybe he does know something."

"Grow, gro, growli."

"I wish I knew if he knew anything…"

"Growl?"

"And I said that I would have a battle with her!" Koya cried, flinging his arms up in aggravation. "What'll she say if we don't show up?"

His gaze fell on the windows.

"Growlithe…I think I have a plan."

**A.N. Again, sorry for not updating sooner! Urgh.,.maybe the reason that I'm having so much computer trouble is because it fell off the couch when I was at my cousisns…anyway, until next time! Bai! **


	4. Chapter 4: Lake Verity

**A.N. Been a while since I've updated, huh? Don't worry – I haven't lost interest in this story! **

**Disclaimer: Pie. **

The next day, Koya woke up to blindingly bright sunlight – something that didn't bother him too much, as he was from Hoenn, the tropical paradise of the Pokémon world. He slowly got out of his bed and tromped over to the bathroom across from his room. The blonde groggily flicked the light switch on, lighting up the small room. With a bath (and a shower curtain) occupying a whole wall, a toilet positioned next to the bath, and a sink right next to the toilet, there was minimal room to move around. But, it was a bathroom. Koya took his toothbrush from the small toothbrush holder and spread some minty toothpaste across the bristles. As he brushed his teeth, Growlithe came sleepily into the bathroom, but not before running into the wooden doorframe in his first attempt to enter the room.

"Growlithe, are you okay?" Koya asked through a mouthful of toothpaste, looking down at his Pokémon companion. Growlithe nodded and sat obediently next to Koya, as the eight-year-old finished brushing his teeth, and his hair.9y The two then went back into the bedroom, and as Koya put on his usual outfit: a light brown vest with white shorts and green socks. He then brushed Growlithe's fur, and when the morning routine was complete, the two went into the kitchen, where Damien was already drinking a cup of coffee and reading the morning paper.

"What are you planning to do today?" the police officer asked as his son sat down at the table, where a plate of warm toast was sitting in the middle of the table, an a glass of milk was sitting at his spot.

"I don't know." Koya mumbled, taking two pieces of toast from the plate and handing one to Growlithe, who pounced on the warm bread and began to tear it apart and eat it in sections. "No one wants to be around me!"

"Understandable," his father sighed. "Koya, I'm sure that if you just give it some time-"  
"It doesn't matter how much time!" Koya burst out, his breakfast still untouched. "They're all going to hate me, all because I have green eyes! Dad, can't I get contacts, or something? Something to change the color of my eyes? Please?"

With barely a moment of consideration, Damien replied curtly: "Absolutely not. You don't need contacts, Koya, and your eyes are just fine. You get them from your mother – and she wouldn't like hearing you say these kinds of things."

"But…but…everyone avoids me!" The blonde cried. "They'll throw stones at me, and they'll yell at me, if I even try to talk to anyone! Everyone hates me, Dad, and you just don't get it!"

"Don't be so-"

"Ridiculous?!" Koya yelled, close to tears. "You don't know, because you have brown eyes – no one has a problem with that! But they have a problem with me! Do you just want me to stay inside the house all the time so I don't get stoned to death?! I'm an outcast, Dad! If Mom knew that, would she have said 'don't be so ridiculous?'" Before Damien could say something, his son continued his distressed rant. "She wouldn't, because she had green eyes too! She'd know how it feels to not be liked by people just because your eyes are a certain color, and no one even takes the time to get to know you! You just don't get it! You would care more if Mom was in this position, but because-"

"ENOUGH." Damien interjected. "I will not be spoken to like this, Koya, and you know it. Now eat your breakfast."

After finishing his breakfast in silence, which, by the time he had finished his conversation with his father, Koya had lost his appetite for, he and Growlithe walked back to his room.

"He doesn't get it, Growlithe…" Koya sighed, sitting down on his unmade bed, Growlithe jumping up to sit by him. "He…he doesn't care…if Mom was still alive…" A few tears began to splash down the boy's cheeks. "H-He'd give it more thought…b-but because it's just me…he doesn't care!" Growlithe jumped up onto his Trainer's lap and began to lick the blonde's face to calm him down. "A-And…I said I'd battle P-Phoenix today…but after all the things that I said…" Koya's eyes caught the window, and his idea from yesterday came flooding back. "Of course!" The blonde said, brightening up. Growlithe sat back down on the bed after Koya told the Puppy Pokémon to wait. He quietly opened his bedroom door and snuck down to the front door, picked up his shoes, then ran as quietly down to his room as he could.

"Let's go, Growlithe." Koya whispered, pulling on his brown shoes and opening up the window. The two quietly crawled out, then ran as fast as they could down the pathway that led to the main part of the town. Both were braced for insults and rock throwing, but to their surprise, all the townspeople completely ignored them – giving them a wide berth and menacing stares, but that was nothing compared to the episode yesterday. "I guess it's not as bad…" Koya muttered, passing by an old man who waved his cane at him angrily.

"OI!" Someone yelled, and Koya ducked immediately, causing murmurs to erupt from the townspeople. "KOYA!" The blonde cautiously looked up and saw Phoenix running towards him with a small, blue Pokémon that had big ears with yellow stars in the middle, black back legs, yellow rings around its front legs, and a black tail with a four pointed yellow star on the end. "Hey, why're you ducking? I'm going to hurt you, y'know that!"

"It's not that I'm worried you'll hurt me..." Koya said, straightening up. "You just surprised me, that's all."

"Well, boo to you, then." Phoenix grinned. "Oh! And this is Lucky, my Pokémon partner!" Lucky looked up eagerly at the blonde, then over at Growlithe and grinned.

"Shi, shi!"

"He's a Shinx." Phoenix laughed upon seeing the surprised look on Koya's face. "Which, since you're from Hoenn, I'm sure that you're not familiar with our Pokémon, or, at least most of them, at least."

"I…okay." Koya said.

"Now, come on!" the raven-haired girl exclaimed, grabbing Koya's hand. "We're going to the lake!"

"But I thought that-"

"You'll see as soon as we get there!" Phoenix interrupted, breaking into a run, dragging Koya behind her, with Lucky and Growlithe bringing up the rear.

"Growl, growli lithe, growli? (Is your Trainer this hyper all the time?)"

"Shiii…shinx, inx, shi. (Sometimes…but not most of the time.)"

After a few minutes of running through Twinleaf Town, and the lush, green, Route 201 outside of town, Phoenix finally slowed down in front of a small passageway formed by trees. "We're here!"

"What?" Koya panted, looking up at the trees. "You said that we were going to have a battle! Not go sightseeing!"

Phoenix looked at Koya and sighed. "Y'know what? Someone should really teach you patience." She pointed towards the natural passage way. "Lake Verity is through this passage, and THAT'S where we're going to battle, alright?" With that, she walked through the trees, Koya following behind in her wake, and Lucky and Growlithe following soon after.

After all four had gotten through the passageway, they were met with a clear, sparkling blue body of water, with a small island in the middle. In the lake, Finneon and even some Lumineon splashed gracefully in the water, and on the shore, wild Bidoof and Kricketot played in the tall grass, and various townspeople were having small battles. A few Starly and Staravia flew through the pristine blue sky, which only had a few clouds in it. Upon seeing the surprised look on Koya's face as he looked around Lake Verity, Phoenix grinned.

"Welcome to Lake Verity, Koya."

**A.N. Whew! Thanks for being patient – I'll do my best to update on a regular basis. **


	5. Chapter 7: Attack!

**Sniv is back! WARNING: This chapter has some blood and other crap like that in it, so if you're squeamish about that kind of stuff, I recommend that you skip this chapter! Then again, I also recommend that you don't, because this one is kinda important. But hey, whatever! Enjoy! (And since I've been forgetting to do this): I don't own Pokémon or the character of Koya. But I do technically own Phoenix. Okay, I'll shut up now. –Sniv**

_Brief Recap: _

_She's my friend… I thought to myself. I looked over at Phoenix again, who was watching the Pokémon light up the sunset. And I guess I'm her friend too. I guess everything is going to be fine…for a while. _

_I slowly started to drift off to sleep, exhausted by the day's events…_

I was shaken awake by a hand on my shoulder. "What's going on?" I asked groggily. The person shook me again.

"Koya! Wake up." I slowly opened up my eyes and saw my mother standing over me, as well as someone standing next to her.

"Mom?" I asked. "What are you doing here?" I then became aware of something on my shoulder. I looked over to my left and saw Phoenix's head resting on my shoulder. She must've fallen asleep too…

"Do you know what time it is?" My mom asked angrily.

"No…" I said, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"It's ten-thirty!" Mom exclaimed. "At night! Where have you been?"

"Right here…" I grumbled. On my left shoulder, Phoenix lifted up her head and shook it a few times, nearly hitting me in the face with her ponytail.

"What happened?" Phoenix asked, rubbing her eyes.

"We fell asleep. You fell asleep on my shoulder, actually." I whispered.

"Oh." Phoenix's cheeks turned a little pink. "Well, sorry."

"You have some explaining to do, missy." Someone said. Phoenix, my mom, and I turned and saw Phoenix's mother standing over us with an extremely angry look on her face.

"Mom, I told you that I was going to be here!" Phoenix argued.

"YOU DIDN'T SAY THAT YOU WERE GOING TO BE GONE FOR THREE HOURS!"

"But…" Phoenix looked at the ground. "I didn't know…"

"Enough." Miriam grabbed Phoenix's hands and pulled her off the rock. "Phonicia Allacourt, you are going home." Phoenix opened her mouth to argue, but Miriam interrupted her. "NOW." Phoenix nodded and gestured to Lucky to come with her, then looked at me.

"See you tomorrow, Koya…" The two walked away, Phoenix hanging her head in shame.

My mom shook her head. "Honestly…now come on, Koya. It's about time that we went home as well." I nodded and got off of the rock, Growlithe jumping off after me.

**A FEW DAYS LATER...**

Growlithe and I were waiting for Phoenix at the lake near the rock, where we usually battled. We had been battling for a few days, and I had still won all of the battles that we had.

_Maybe I'll lose today…_ I thought, like I did every day. I looked around the lakefront at all of the people that were there. But Phoenix's wasn't among them.

Suddenly, I was tackled from behind, landing face-first on the ground. "Hey, Koya!" Phoenix laughed, getting off of my back.

"Can you please not do that?" I asked, separating myself from the grass. Growlithe licked my face, seeing if I was okay.

"Sorry. I'm just excited, that's all!" Phoenix grinned. "And I bet I'll win today!" Lucky cheered in agreement.  
_I want you to win. _I thought in my head. Out loud I said: "No, I think I'm gonna win."

"No one is going to win today." A voice said. A shadow was cast over me and Phoenix, and both of us looked up to see who was blocking the sun.

The voice belonged to a man that I had never seen around town before. He had blue hair that stuck up at the ends, and beady black eyes. He was wearing a silver vest with a yellow G on it, and black pants as well as a black-ish shirt on underneath his jacket. There was a big Pokémon at his side, one with really sharp claws.

I looked over at Phoenix, who was completely paralyzed, and had a look of extreme fear on her face. _Does she know this guy? _

"D-D-Dad!" Phoenix stuttered. "W-What are you doing here?"

"That's your FATHER?" I said in disbelief. How the heck could Phoenix be related to this guy? They didn't look anything alike. And from what I had seen of this man, they didn't act anything alike either.

"Yes." The man said. "My name is Cyrus. And Phonicia is my daughter." 

Phoenix was shaking in fear. "M-My name is Phoenix! Not Phonicia!" Cyrus glared at her, and she flinched like he had slapped her instead of just looking at her.

"Your name is irrelevant." Cyrus said with an air of authority. "I've come for another reason." He looked over at me and Growlithe, and I froze. How could this man be so intimidating?

"Why?" I asked, knowing that I probably shouldn't have.

"For starters…" Cyrus said, shifting his gaze from me to Phoenix. "Why have you been battling this boy?"

"B-Because…he's my friend!" Phoenix said, still shaking.

"What have I been telling you?" Cyrus demanded.

"I-I can't battle anyone…" Phoenix said, looking at the ground. I was expecting Cyrus to slap her, but he didn't. All he did was look at her in disdain, then turn to me.

"Since we can't have that..." Cyrus said, glaring at me. The Pokémon at his side tensed, ready to strike. "We'll just have to get rid of you." He smiled evilly, his beady black eyes trained on me.

"W-What do you mean?" I asked. I was shaking in fear too, but looked around to see if anyone was going to help us. Of course, no one was looking our way, and even if they were, who would help the outcast and his friend?

"This." Cyrus motioned to his Pokémon, and it leapt into the air and disappeared. Phoenix and I looked around in confusion. It appeared again right in front of me, it's claws gleaming. I tried to run away, but before I could, it slashed at my arm viciously.

"KOYA!" Phoenix screamed. I dropped to the ground in pain, a long gash on my right arm bleeding badly.  
The Pokémon lashed out again, and I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain.

But it never came.

I slowly opened my eyes to see blood dripping in front of my face. But it wasn't my blood.

It was Phoenix's.

She had stuck her arm out in front of me.

_W-What is she doing? _I thought. _Is she trying to protect me?_

_ "_LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Phoenix screamed. "JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

"Phoenix, NO!" I yelled. "DON'T! P-PLEASE DON'T!"

Phoenix turned around and looked at me, her arm still out in front of me. "It's my fault." She said quietly. "Not yours."

"W-What?" I said in disbelief. "No…please! I don't…I don't want you to…" Tears started to pour down my face. "Phoenix! I don't want you to die!"

"Who said anything about dying?" Phoenix said, kneeling down in front of me. "I'm not going to die."

"Step aside, Phonicia." Cyrus said. "NOW."

"I'm not gonna let you hurt him!" Phoenix shot back. "I CHALLENGED KOYA FIRST!" Her voice rose to a yell. "IT'S MY FAULT! IT'S ALL MY FAULT! SO YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU'RE GONNA HURT ME! AND NOT HIM!"

Cyrus's eyes narrowed. "Step aside, you stupid girl."

"No." Phoenix said. "I'm not going to."

The Pokémon growled, some blood dripping off of its claws. Cyrus nodded, and without warning, the Pokémon sprang up and slashed Phoenix right across her face. Then, it cut her on her other arm.

"You pathetic child." Cyrus said disdainfully. "You disappoint me."

"I-I-I'm okay with that." Phoenix said. I saw some blood spatter onto the ground. "I wish I wasn't your daughter." Cyrus's eyes widened.

"WEAVILLE! ONE MORE ATTACK!" Weaville obeyed and slashed Phoenix again.

"Pathetic." Cyrus said again. He recalled Weaville and turned around. "I'm ashamed of you, Phonicia." With a shake of his head, Cyrus turned around and walked away.

"But she's your daughter!" I cried, standing up. "Don't you care about her?"

"Not in the slightest." Cyrus said coldly. "I couldn't care less about her."

"B-But…" I said.

"Koya…" Phoenix groaned. "Don't push it." I turned around to look at her, and my mouth dropped open.

Her face was a mess of blood, two cuts running across it, creating an "X", the center of it around her left eye. And her arms were bleeding, blood spreading all over the place.

"PHOENIX!" I yelled. "You're…you're all…"

Phoenix spat another mouthful of blood on to the ground. "I…I'm sorry." With that, she fell forwards on to the ground.

I ran over to her, kneeling in the little puddle of blood that was gathering on the ground. "No…no…Phoenix…please…" I turned to Growlithe and Lucky, who had been watching the scene in horror. "Get help…get Nurse Joy…" They nodded and ran off. I looked back down at Phoenix, who was still bleeding. "Don't die…please, Phoenix…I don't want you to die!" I began to cry, tears mixing with the puddle of blood on the ground. "Please…"

A few minutes passed, and the bleeding began to let up a bit.

"Is this the girl?" Someone behind me asked. I turned around and saw Nurse Joy standing behind me with a few Chanseys. Growlithe and Luckuy a few feet behind her.

I nodded, for not being able to speak. Nurse Joy nodded to one of the Chansey, and it lifted Phoenix up in its arms.

"I…don't let her die…" I said quietly, tears still pouring down my face.

"Don't worry." Nurse Joy said. "We'll do the best that we can. Okay?" I nodded, and Nurse Joy and the Chanseys ran off towards the Pokémon Center.

"Growlithe, Lucky…" I said. The two Pokémon ran towards me and into my arms, and I hugged them both tightly. "I gotta tell Miriam…" I slowly stood up, but a wave of dizziness washed over me, and I fell to my knees. _Was it the blood?_

Then, I looked down at my own arm, which was still bleeding. I groaned and tried to stand up again, putting my other hand over my bloody cut. Growlithe and Lucky both cried in protest, but I took a couple of steps before another wave of dizziness hit me. I fell to my knees again, black spots beginning to dot my vision.

"N…no…" I got up again, but instead of the dizziness, I felt the sensation of falling backwards. I hit the ground with a thump, black spots dotting most of my vision.

The last thing that I remembered before I blacked out was Growlithe, licking my face.

**A.N. THE FEELS. THE FEELS. FEELS OVERLOAD. Seriously, people. DO YOU NOT FEEL THE FEELS? 'Cause I know I do. Sorry if this chapter was a bit graphic. The next few won't be as bad. Promise!**

**Again, I don't own any characters here (except for Phoenix) and yeah. Disclaimer, disclaimer…random…crap…here. Bai! -Sniv**


	6. Chapter 8: Aftermath

**Hello! Sniv is back with Chapter 8! It's a little bit of a recovery after Chapter 7…I hope…*sadness*. Anyway, I don't own any of the characters used except for Phoenix. Enjoy! –Sniv**

"Nnngh…" I groaned, starting to come awake. "Where…am I?" I slowly opened my eyes, and found that I was staring, not at the sky, but at a white ceiling.

"Koya!" A voice said. I slowly turned my head to the source of the voice.

"What…?" The voice sounded strangely like my mother's. When I fully opened my eyes, I saw that it was my mother, sitting in a chair at the edge of my bed with a worried look on her face.

"How are you feeling?" Mom asked, standing up. "And what happened? What have you gotten yourself into, Koya? I should have never let you hang around with that girl…she's just trouble!"

"Phoenix isn't trouble…" I said softly. "She's my friend." Then, something occurred to me. "I-Is she okay?"

Mom shook her head. "I don't know anything about her condition…" She sat down in the chair again and began to stroke my hair. "What on earth happened to you two? Oh…oh…this is all my fault!"

"No it's not…" I said. "Phoenix's father attacked us with his Weavile." I didn't mention that his intended target had been me, and not Phoenix.

"WHAT?!" My mom yelled. "I KNEW IT! Koya, I'm sorry!"

"Why are you sorry?" I asked, burying my face in the white hospital pillow a little bit.

"That GIRL!" Mom roared. "HER! I should have NEVER let you hang around her!"

"Phoenix isn't a bad person, mom…" I said again, a few tears starting to fall down my cheeks as I thought back to what had happened. "She protected me…"

"She did what?"

"N-Nothing…" I said, trying to disappear into the pillow.

"Ugh…honestly, Koya! Have some better sense." Mom shook her head again, this time in exasperation.

"What do you mean?"

"Koya, that girl…" Mom said. "She's a troublemaker. She's a rebel and a no-good person. Her family is screwed up. And her father isn't a good man either. In fact, I'd say he's downright evil. She's an outcast, Koya. I don't want you talking to her anymore."

"I…" I couldn't believe what my mother had said. _Phoenix isn't a bad person. No. She's my friend. I'm not going to listen to mom. _"Mom, she's my friend, and…I'm an outcast too! I am! I'm not going to call her an outcast if I'm an outcast myself…that wouldn't be right." I took a deep breath, preparing to say words that I had never said before. "I'm not going to listen to you. Because you're wrong."

"Excuse me?" Mom asked, standing up.

"YOU'RE WRONG!" I yelled, something that I had never done to my mom before. "YOU'RE WRONG! YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT ME! AND YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT PHOENIX! YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING BECAUSE ALL YOU DO IS LISTEN TO RUMORS AND ASSUME THINGS! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT ANYONE IS LIKE!"

"I…" Mom backed up towards the door. "I don't…" She placed her hand on the doorknob.

"You aren't my mother." I growled, sitting up. "You aren't. And you never will be."

"You're just like your father." She snarled back. "I can't say I'm surprised."

"GET OUT OF HERE!" I yelled.

"Fine." She turned the doorknob and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. I flopped back down on the pillow with a long sigh.

_What did I just do? _

**A.N. This chapter was mostly made up as I went along…um…sorry? Eh, it'll be better next time. And sorry for the delay. Homework+Cruddy Wifi=Delayed Chapters. So ya…bai! -Sniv**


	7. Chapter 9: Hospital Talk

**A.N. Uh…I'm not doing the Brief Recaps anymore. Sorry! Anyway, here's a little note about this chapter: It takes place over a few days, so the ******** means it's a new day. It's not censorship. Okay? And I don't own Pokémon. (Because if I did, Phoenix would be an actual character.) –Sniv**

I stared at the door that my mom had just left through. What had I just done? How could I have done something like that? Was I really like my father?

I really hoped that I wasn't.

Shaking my head, I got out of the hospital bed, just noticing my arm. It was covered in a white bandage and still stung a bit, probably from the cut. I made my way to the door and opened it, looking around. There was no one in the hallway, aside from some green benched. Shutting the door behind me, I walked out into the hospital-white hallway and was immediately greeted by Growlithe, who tackled me to the ground.

"Hi, Growlithe…" I said, sticking out my good arm for him to lick. "Where've you been?" Growlithe barked happily and put his paws on my legs. In return, I gave him a hug.

"Shi!" I looked up and saw Lucky running down the hallway. "Shi! Shinx shi shi!"

"What's going on, Lucky?" I asked. Lucky ran in a circle and looked down the hallway, then back at me. A feeling of dread started spreading in my stomach. "I-Is that where Phoenix is?" Lucky nodded. "Is…is she still…alive?"

"Shi…inx." I gulped, but stood up anyway.

"Where is she?" Lucky turned around and started walking down the hallway, me and Growlithe walking behind. The Shinx turned down a different hallway with a sign that read "IC Unit."

_What does that stand for? _ I wondered as we kept on walking. Suddenly, Lucky stopped at a closed door with a small window next to it. I walked over to the window and looked inside.

But I wasn't prepared for what I would see.

Phoenix was lying, unconscious in a hospital bed, with a weird mask over her mouth. She had wires stuck in her body, and a big monitor connected to the wires with a bunch of symbols that I didn't understand. Her face was covered in bandages.

"What…what…" I put my hand on the wall. "That should be me in there…not Phoenix…" Growlithe and Lucky looked up at me with concern. "I…I need to get out of here…" I said, and with that, I turned and ran down the hallway with Growlithe and Lucky close behind.

I didn't want to see Phoenix like that anymore.

XxXxXxXxXxX

The next day, I went back to the Pokémon Center and into the IC Unit, whatever that was. I stood outside the door for a while, until it opened and Nurse Joy came out.

"Are you Koya?" She asked, kneeling down. I nodded "Are you here to see Phoenix?" I nodded again.

"Is she still…" The words caught in my throat. With cuts like that…she couldn't have made it through the night. _Phoenix is dead. And it's my fault. All of it. _A few tears began to roll down my cheeks.

"She's alive."

"WHAT?" I almost yelled. "How?"

"I don't know…" Nurse Joy said with a smile. "But somehow, she is. Medical miracle, I say. The good thing is that she's alive." There was a loud beeping coming from inside the room. Nurse Joy stood up and ran inside, and I cautiously followed, motioning for Lucky and Growlithe to stay outside.

Nurse Joy was looking at the monitor, which was currently displaying a strange wave pattern that obviously made sense to her. She walked over to the bed and took breathing mask off of Phoenix's face.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"She's waking up." Nurse Joy said, hanging the mask on a hook. "Koya, do you know where her mom is?"

"No…I don't." I said quietly. "She wasn't even here when I came by yesterday."

Nurse Joy raised her eyebrows. "Do you know why?"

I shook my head.

The monitor started beeping again, this time louder. Nurse Joy walked over to the bed, pulled up two chairs, and sat down in one of them. She motioned for me to sit down in the other, so I sat.

"What now?" I whispered.

"We just wait." Nurse Joy said.

We didn't have very long to wait. Phoenix stirred, then slowly opened her eyes.

"Nngh…" Her eyes opened up fully, and she looked cautiously around. "Where…am I?"

"How are you feeling?" Nurse Joy asked.

"I'm okay…ish."

"Good." Nurse Joy smiled, then looked at me.

"Who're you lookin' at?" Phoenix asked, trying to tilt her head.

"You're friend is here." Nurse Joy stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll let you two talk, okay? If anything weird happens, just yell." I nodded, and she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Koya?" Phoenix asked. "She's talking about you, right?"

"Yeah." I said, moving over to the chair where Nurse Joy had sat. "It's me." The corners of Phoenix's mouth twitched up into what looked like a smile.

"Nice to see you." She said. "You okay?"

"Am I okay?" I asked. "Are YOU okay? I have a cut on my arm! You nearly got your whole face sliced off! Why are you asking if I'm okay?"

"I was wondering." The smile seemed to disappear.

"Sorry…" I said quietly, looking at the floor. "I had an argument with my mom. She said…I shouldn't talk to you anymore."

"You're quite the rebel then, aren't you?" Phoenix teased.

"Phoenix, stop!" I said, jumping up. "I'm serious! She said that I can't talk to you anymore, that you're nothing but trouble, and you're whole family is screwed up!"

"Well, your mom is right." Phoenix said. I sat down again. "I am nothing but trouble. And my whole family IS screwed up. I'm an outcast. But isn't your mom one too?"

"Um, yeah," I muttered. "We're both outcasts." This brought another small smile to Phoenix's face.

"Outcasts pushing out outcasts. How stupid is that?"

"Stupid." I agreed, a small smile spreading over my face. "It is stupid." Then, I thought back to what I had said in response to my mom saying that I couldn't be seen with Phoenix anymore. "I already said that I wouldn't listen to her."

"Good." Phoenix said. Just then, Nurse Joy came back into the room.

"Koya, you have to go now." I sighed and stood up.

"Hey!" Phoenix called as I went towards the door. "You're coming back tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah." I said, then left the room, closing the door behind me.

XxXxXxXxX

The next day, I went to IC unit again, this time without Growlithe or Lucky. When I got to Phoenix's room, she was reading a book, but glanced up when I came in.

"You're back!" She said, another smile forming on her face, which had significantly less bandages now. "I was starting to go insane from boredom."

"Books aren't boring." I responded, sitting down on a chair. "They're interesting."

"Then take this." Phoenix thrust the book at me. "I hate it."

"Phoenix, it's a book."

"It's a stupid book." She grumbled. "I'd rather be outside than inside this place reading."

"You sound like me." I teased.

"Then kill me now." Phoenix rolled her eyes. "You can go and sound like yourself any time of day, and I'll sound like my bored self, who hates this hospital."

"Don't say something like that." I said, putting the book on the floor. "Phoenix, you could've died, you know." Then something else occurred to me. "And I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"Because you should be sitting on this chair and I should be laying in that bed with the bandages all over my face!"

"You'd probably be enjoying the book, too."

"PHOENIX, I'M SERIOUS!" I yelled. "STOP JOKING! YOU COULD'VE BEEN KILLED! WHY THE HECK ARE YOU JUST SHRUGGING IT OFF LIKE IT'S NOTHING?"

A strange silence fell over the room. Nurse Joy poked her head in.

"Everything okay in here?" She asked.

"Fine." I said. She nodded and closed the door. I looked back at Phoenix, who had something that looked like tears in her eyes. "Phoenix?"

"Koya, I know what could've happened." Phoenix said quietly. "But I would rather see me die before I see you die. Especially for something that you didn't deserve."

"But-"

"No." Phoenix looked up. "I know. Trust me. The only reason I'm acting like this is because I'm glad that I'm still alive. And I'm glad to see that you're okay."

"Are you trying to make me feel guilty?" I asked, folding my arms. Phoenix smiled again.

"Maybe a little."

"Stop it." I grumbled.

"Koya, you're too serious." Phoenix said, right out of nowhere. "You kinda remind me of a policeman. But you're not a man…"

**A.N. Well, she's right. –Sniv**

** Shut up. –Koya**

"…You're a boy." Phoenix finished thoughtfully.

"Obviously!" I exclaimed.

"So you're a policeboy!"

"That doesn't even make any sense." I frowned. "Why policeboy?"

"'Cause you're serious and act like you're older than you really are! Like a policeman. But you're not a man, you're a boy!"

**A.N. I don't care, she-**

** I said SHUT UP. –Koya**

"…So you're a policeboy. Understand?" I shrugged.

"Just so long as you don't call me that when we're around other people…"

"Koya?" I turned around, and Nurse Joy was standing in the doorway. "Visiting hours are over."

"Oh." I got up out of the chair and walked towards the door. Just as I turned the doorknob, I heard Phoenix yell:

"See ya soon, POLICEBOY!"

XxXxXxXxX

I went back a few days later. When I entered Phoenix's room, she was still reading a book with an angry look on her face.

"How's the book?" I asked, sitting down in a chair.

"Terrible." Phoenix said, dropping the book down on the ground. The bandages were gone, replaced with a few little bandages cut in the shape of Beautiflies.

**A.N. Y'know, Butterfly Bandages. **

"Looks…better…" I said.

"What does?"

"Your…" I pointed to her face. "Y'know, your…"

"These?" Phoenix laughed, pointing to the deep cuts on her face. "Yeah! Only problem is, they're gonna be permanent, something like that."

"So you're gonna have scars?" I asked. "Don't tough guys usually have scars?"

Phoenix cracked up. "I'm not a tough guy?"

"Well…" I said with a shrug. "You're not a guy."

"Duh!" Phoenix said, still laughing. "'Course I'm not! Wouldn't be here if I was, anyways!"

When she said that, something occurred to me. "How much longer will you be in here?"

"Oh, like a week or something. And stop shrugging!"

"This again?"

"Yes, POLICEBOY, this again." I felt my face heat up for some weird reason. _What's my problem? _

"Shut up." I grumbled, looking away.

"Aw, lighten up, stupid." Phoenix grinned. "It's not that bad. I could call you something different, if you wanted me too."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Ummm…Koy-Koy?"

"NO!" I yelled. "Fine! Keep it at Policeboy. Whatever."

"C'mon, you like the nickname!" Phoenix laughed. "You're just to embarrassed to say it."

"NO, I DON'T like the NICKNAME!" I yelled again. "GET A HOBBY!"

"If I wasn't shut up in here, I would." Phoenix said, a hurt look on her face.

"Fine, fine." I said hurriedly, standing up.

"You're going already?"

"Yes." I ran towards the door, opened it up, then slammed it behind me. Panting, I leaned against it.

_What is wrong with me? _

**A.N. THAT…took a while. Sorry for the wait! And apologies for not updating The Fight Over Rosa, I had the chapter finished, but I didn't realize it. Oops. But hey! It's updated. And I don't own any characters, except for Phoenix! So ya! Bai for now! And Koya, you're not a man. –Sniv**

** YES I AM! -Koya**

** No you're not. –Phoenix**

**UPDATE: 11/25/14- Added the day spacing, because for some reason, it was deleted the first time I put it in. **


	8. Chapter 10: I Hate Myself

**A.N. Soooo…Chapter 10! This thing is really taking off! YAYYY! I'm happy. Umm…yeah. This chapter contains some minor SacrificeShipping. BUT THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE SACRIFICESHIPPING IS OTP! I don't own anything…blah. –Sniv**

_About a week later…_

I was sitting against the rock on the Valor Lakefront, Growlithe lying next to me. _What's taking her so long? _Sighing, I scanned the lakefront once more.

Nothing.

"Where is she, Growlithe?" I asked impatiently. Growlithe shrugged.

There was a burst of loud laughter coming from the entrance, followed by some cursing. Growlithe and I stood up and went over to where the commotion was. We could hear what they were saying now.

"Scar-face!"

"Outcast!"

"You should've been killed!"

The jeers and teasing continued as people moved into a line-ish shape. One person seemed to be pushing through the crowd.

"The whole town must be here…" I said, walking closer to the group.

"SHUT UP, YOU HALF-FACED ASSES, AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Someone screamed.

The crowd parted, with a few "ow!"s and "watch it!"s to boot, and Phoenix came stomping out, Lucky behind her, looking like she always had, but a little angrier.

And she had two scars across her face, one cutting her lip in half, just barely missing her nose, forming an "x" on her left eye. There were two cuts on her arms as well, both of them very deep.

"Stupid…idiots…" She muttered to herself. The crowd began to exit the lakefront, most of them laughing like idiots.

"Phoenix?" I said, coming up to her. "You're out, right?" Phoenix nodded.

"I'd rather be back in there." She said, looking at the ground. "I look weird. Everyone's laughing at me. I want to go back to the hospital, where no one can see me."

"No…" I said. "I'm not gonna laugh at you. I can't, even if I wanted to, which I don't! And I thought you hated the hospital!"

"I do." Phoenix said, picking Lucky up. "And now I want to go back."

"You're not serious about this, are you?"

"I am." She said, squeezing Lucky a little bit tighter.

"Well, stop." I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her over to the rock. "It's not like you to say this kind of stuff."

Phoenix shook her head. "That doesn't change anything."

"Like what?"

"The fact that I hate myself."

I did a small double take. _What's she saying? _

"Listen." I said, putting my hands on her shoulders. Phoenix opened her mouth, but I cut her off. "No. Just shut up and listen. And put Lucky down." She nodded, and put Lucky on the ground, and he ran off to play with Growlithe. "Phoenix, stop saying things like that. You shouldn't be upset about what you did. You're braver than all of those other idiots who were making fun of you. Now can you stop being such a downer?"

"Koya…" Phoenix said, still looking at the ground. "Why are you helping me?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE MY FRIEND!" I yelled in her face. "Phoenix, did he slice your brain in half too? Did they put something weird in you at the hospital? You're the one who's always saying that you're my friend! You're always sticking up for me! I can't do those things for you, too? Why not?"

"I never said that you couldn't…"

"Then let me help you. Okay?"

"Fine." Phoenix said with a small smile. "You're my friend Koya…so you can help me. And I'll help you."

I nodded. Then, without thinking, I wrapped my arms around Phoenix's neck and gave her a hug.

"You don't have to do everything alone, you know." I muttered under my breath. I could feel her arms reach up around my neck to hug me back.

"I know…"

**A.N. Holy shit, what did I just write? I am redoing this as soon as I can get a few more chapters of this story posted. Blarp. I'm sorry! I've ben really stressed out lately and haven't had a chance to update…please don't be mad! Eeek…I'm sorry… -Sniv**


	9. Chapter 11: The Second Attack

**Hey, all! So, one thing that I forgot to mention is that this story has a huge amount of time skips. This one is about 6 weeks. Basically, Phoenix and Koya have been battling and shit, and yeah. So this is the part were it kinda starts following the manga that Koya's from. Enjoy! (Also, this chapter may contain a few spoilers). –Sniv**

I was down at the lake again, and had been for about three hours. Phoenix was supposed to be there a while ago…but she hadn't shown up yet. Which was unusual. The only other time that this had happened was when she had gotten out of the hospital.

_Did something happen to her? _I thought to myself. Out loud I said: "Growlithe, you ready?"

"Growl! Growli!" (Yeah! I'm ready!)

"Your readiness is for nothing, I'm afraid." A voice said. I felt a strange shiver run up my spine, and I slowly turned around.

It was Cyrus.

"YOU!" I yelled angrily. "Where's Phoenix and Lucky? Did you actually end up killing her this time?"

Cyrus shook his head. "That will come later. But…I do think that you need to understand something. You won't see her. Ever again."

"W-what?" I said, shaking a bit. "What do you mean?"

"She's gone." Cyrus said simply. "Somewhere. I don't even know."

"WHAT DID YOU DO WTH HER?" I yelled, anger getting the better of me. "WHERE IS SHE?"

"I already said that I didn't know, you ignorant boy." Cyrus snapped. "There isn't anything that you can do about it. There isn't anything that I can do about it. She's gone."

"Where did she go? And why can't I see her anymore?"

Cyrus sighed. "I left her in the woods." He gestured to the woods that surrounded the lake. "And I said that she couldn't come back. If she did…then it wouldn't have ended well. For you." My mouth dropped. "She said that she wouldn't leave the woods. You should've seen how fast she agreed…astounding, really."

"You…you…" I growled. Growlithe stood up next to me. "I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BATTLE!" I yelled, right out of nowhere. "And if I win, then Phoenix can come back."

"And if I win…" Cyrus said, a creepy look coming over his face. "Then we'll just have to see."

XxXxXxXxX

"Growlithe, let's go!" I yelled. Growlithe stepped out onto our makeshift battlefield, a proud look on his face.

"Gyrados!" Cyrus commanded. He threw a Pokéball, and out popped a huge, blue serpent. I knew that we were at a disadvantage already.

"GYRAAAAAAAA!" The Gyrados roared.

"Growlithe, use Flamethrower!" I commanded. A huge pillar of flame came shooting out of Growlithe's mouth.

"Dodge." Cyrus said. Gyrados moved left to avoid the flames. "Now…SURF!"

A ginormous wave of water came right out of the lake, heading right for Growlithe.  
"Growlithe! Get out of the way, get out of the way!" I yelled. But Growlithe couldn't move. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" I cried.

The wave came crashing down on Growlithe, washing it about five feet away.  
"Growlithe…NO!" I ran towards my fallen partner. "NO!"

"I see no reason to punish you further." Cyrus said plainly, walking over to where I was. "Goodbye." He recalled the Gyrados and walked away.

"Growlithe…" I said, a few tears starting to fall down my cheeks. "Growlithe, I'm sorry…" I picked Growlithe up and ran as fast as I could to the Pokémon Center.

_I won't loose Growlithe. I won't! _

**A.N. Well, there you have it. For those of you who have actually read the manga that Koya/Growlithe/most of the characters that I'm using are from, then you probably know that Koya did challenge a Trainer with a Gyrados to a battle, and Growlithe was hit with a Surf attack. However, it's not exactly said who the Gyrados belonged too, so for story purposes, the Gyrados belongs to Cyrus. **

**And yeah. Spoiler alert. Sorry. But really, read the manga! It's great. **

**Chapter 12 is coming soon! Also, the story will be updated more often, now that it's leaving the land of exposition and actually getting into the good parts. Bai! -Sniv **


	10. Chapter 12: A New Mission

**A.N. Hello, friends! Chapter 12 is here! Again, this may contain some spoilers for the manga. Any spoilers are mostly for volumes 6-8, so I'm going to try not to ruin all of it…but read the manga. Seriously. It's awesome. –Sniv**

The Pokémon Center Lobby was very cold. That would probably be expected, since I was wearing just a vest and shorts. And the fact that I had been waiting for a few hours to see if Growlithe was okay.

"What was I thinking?" I asked myself, thinking back to the battle I just had with Cyrus. "You're so stupid, Koya!"

A strange thought popped into my head. _What would Phoenix say? _

I didn't know. I didn't want to think about Phoenix. She was the whole reason that I had battled Cyrus in the first place.

"You're stupid, Koya. Really, really stupid." I said again.

"Koya?" Nurse Joy said, walking over. "You can se Growlithe now."

"Where is he?" I asked, springing up.

**A.N. Let's just assume that Growlithe is a male. **

"The psychiatrist's office. It's just down that hallway, fourth door on the left." Nurse Joy pointed to a hallway that I hadn't noticed before.

_What's a psychiatrist's office? _I wondered as I walked down the hallway. It was a lot darker than the lobby. I stopped at the fourth door on the left, then knocked nervously.

The door opened to reveal a man with brown hair, glasses and a lab coat. "You're Koya?" he asked, peering down at me. I nodded. "Come on in." I walked in and he closed the door behind me.

There wasn't a lot in the room, except for a desk, a few chairs, a table and…Growlithe.

"Growlithe?" I said, walking towards the table where Growlithe was laying.

"You'll be happy to know that physically, it's fine." The man said, pushing up his glasses. "Emotionally, however…well…I'll let you find out."

"Hiya, Growlithe…" I said, reaching my hand out to give him a pat.

Growlithe started to shake, moving away from my hand. I shivered.

"Growlithe, it's me!" I said, now nervous. _What had I done? _Growlithe shook again, then moved, but this time, the shake it seemed to spread up my arm, and flooded throughout my entire body.

"Trauma." The psychiatrist said. "That's all."

I was still in shock. Growlithe was traumatized. I couldn't touch him. I couldn't touch my friend.

A few tears started making their way out of my eyes and down my face.

_This is all my fault. All of it. _

The psychiatrist left the room, leaving me alone. My eyes fell some white gloves that he must've left. I ran over and put them on. They were a little big, but they would be good for the time being.

_I won't touch another Pokémon with my bare hands. _I told myself as I made my way to the door. _I don't want to traumatize them like I did with Growlithe. _

"Bye, Growlithe…" I said quietly as I opened up the door. "I'll miss you."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

I was wandering around in Twinleaf Town, Pokémonless. _What could I do now? _I didn't want to go back home. That wouldn't go well.

I made my way over to a lamppost and looked at some of the signs attached. One in particular stood out to me.

It read:

**DO YOU WANT TO JOIN THE INTERNATIONAL POLICE? **

_**WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING TRAINEE OFFICERS TO JOIN OUR RANKS! **_

_ Trainee officers…_ I thought to myself. _I could join, and become a trainee. Then, maybe I could learn how to be a better trainer. And I could start over with all of this…_

Something weird occurred to me. _Phoenix did say…_

_ "Koya, you're too serious." Phoenix said, right out of nowhere. "You kinda remind me of a policeman. But you're not a man…"_

___"…You're a boy." Phoenix finished thoughtfully. _

_ "Obviously!" I exclaimed. _

_ "So you're a policeboy!" _

A strange, new hope was starting to form in my chest. I tore off the posted with my gloved hands and ran to where the International Police base was, just outside of Twinleaf Town.

_I'm going to join the International Police. And I'm gonna be a policeboy. _

**A.N. Well, there you go! Chapter 12 is done. We're really getting to the good stuff now! I really hope that more people review this…I've only gotten one so far. I'd really appreciate some reviews, people…especially because this story is already on Chapter 12. I've been doing my best, people. Please, review!**

**Also, Phoenix will not be making many more appearances for the next few chapters. But she's got a bit part coming up, so if Phoenix was the reason that you weren't reviewing, you can review now. She's going to be gone for a while. **

**Bai! -Sniv**


	11. Chapter 13: Bello and Koy-Koy

**Chapter 13! Wow! Okay! A few notes before the chapter starts. **

**-There is a new character that will be introduced. His name is Bello. It is pronounced Bey-YO. Like with the Spanish double L thing. **

**-Koya is about 8 years old now, as is Phoenix. So keep that in mind while you read the next few chapters. Especially about Koya. **

**-I have no other notes, so let's start! –Sniv**

_**A few months later…**_

The International Police is turning out to be great. I have new partners Pokémon now: Absol, Philoswine, and Metang. They're really strong. And I haven't lost a battle yet. Perfection was all that mattered now.

_This all is for you, Growlithe. I won't loose. Not ever. _I told myself as I walked down the hall towards my instructor's office, Absol walking next to me.

"Hey, Koya!" I turned around and saw the same instructor that I had been looking for running towards me.

"Hello, Bello." I said.

"Why so serious, Koya?" Bello asked, pulling at my black jacket that I had gotten when I first came. "You should lighten up a bit. Actually, let's make that a lot."

I rolled my eyes. "Why did you want to see me?"

"Right! Well, Looker has a new assignment. And it's supposed to be pretty big! So we're going down to the meeting room!" I nodded, and we started walking through the base to get to the meeting room.

"Looks like everyone's going to the meeting room." I said as we started drawing closer.

"Like I said, Koy-Koy, this is a big assignment!"

"Don't call me Koy-Koy!" I snapped, my gloved hand tightening on the briefcase that I carried everywhere. "My name is Koya!"

**A.N. An eight-year-old with a briefcase. Just take a moment to picture that. **

"Whatever you say, Koy-Koy." Bello teased.

"I SAID, DON'T CALL ME KOY-KOY!" I yelled, causing all of the officers in the hall to turn their heads in our direction.

"Why are you so touchy about that?" Bello asked as we made our way into the meeting room and sat down at the big table.

"I don't know." I growled, laying down the briefcase on the table, as other officers sat down around us. "It just sounds stupid." The truth was, I knew exactly why I hated being called Koy-Koy.

_"Aw, lighten up, stupid." Phoenix grinned. "It's not that bad. I could call you something different, if you wanted me too." _

_ "Like what?" I asked. _

_ "Ummm…Koy-Koy?" _

_ "NO!" I yelled. "Fine! Keep it at Policeboy. Whatever." _

I shuddered.

"Why did you shudder?" Bello asked again.

"Shut up." I grumbled.

Bello opened his mouth to say something, but by then, all the officers had sat down, and the meeting had begun.

"Officers." A man sitting at the head of the table said, standing up. His name was Looker, head of Sinnoh Police. "We have a very important mission coming up, for all of you in this room." He pointed to a wall behind him, on which an image was projected. Most of the officers stiffened up at the sight of it.

"Team Galactic!" Bello muttered under his breath.

"What?" I whispered.

"Team Galactic." Looker said, silencing the whispers that had broken out. "Yes. We have received word from a source that they have a new weapon. Naturally, we can assume that this weapon will be dangerous. So we have to stop it at all costs!" He pounded his fist on the table. "Now, the group will be broken into sections for this mission." As Looker began to assign the groups, my mind drifted away.

This would be my first mission. I couldn't screw it up. There was too much riding on this. Maybe I could even destroy the weapon…

"KOYA!" I heard someone yell.

"What?" I asked, snapping back to reality.

"You're on guard duty." Bello said.

"Guard duty?"

"You guard the building to make sure that no one gets in while we're in there." A female officer said.

"So I'm not going in the building." I said.

"Yes." Looker responded.

"Okay." I grumbled.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

We were all standing outside of the Team Galactic Building in Veilstone City. Looker turned to address us.

"Okay, people! No screwing up." Looker said firmly. "Break into groups, and let's go." The officers broke into groups, and I was left standing alone. "You're on the steps." Looker pointed up to about the 20th step. I sighed and began to climb up, stopping where I was supposed to. "LET'S MOVE!" Looker yelled, and all the officers started running up the steps. Bello gave me a thumbs-up as he passed by. I rolled my eyes and let Absol out of it's Pokéball.

"We're supposed to keep guard." I said to Absol. "So keep an eye out."

We had been standing on the steps for about 30 minutes. I could hear yelling and explosions coming from inside the building. A small crowd had gathered at the edge of the steps.

"This is really boring." I muttered under my breath. I turned to look at Absol, who had been standing in the same spot for the past half hour. Suddenly, its eyes glowed red and it shook. "Absol, what's wrong?" Since Absol had the power to sense natural disasters, I knew something bad was coming.

There was a huge explosion from inside the building, blowing the doors off completely. Then dust came billowing out of the doors. Someone came flying out of the building. It took me a moment to realize who it was.

It was Bello.

He landed with a huge thump and slid down a few steps. I ran down to him, Absol trailing close behind.

"Bello!" I yelled. "What happened in there?"

"The weapon…" Bello groaned. "It's…it's so strong…no one stood a chance…"

"What was the weapon?" I asked, kneeling down next to him. "What kind of machinery could do that?"

Bello laughed weakly. "It's…not a machine…Koya…"

"Then what is it?"

"It's…just a girl…"

"A GIRL?"

**A.N. Bum bum ba dummmm! I'm guessing that you already know who the weapon is. Just saying. **

**Anyway, ya. I don't own any characters except for Phoenix and Bello…blah. Reviews are VERY MUCH appreciated! Seriously. Chapter 13 and only one review? That's not cool. And I'm sorry if I seem like I'm demanding reviews, but I want to know what people think about this! And if they actually read this. Yeah…bai! -Sniv**


	12. Chapter 14: Traitor

**A.N. Yo! How is it going? Here's Chapter 14! And I'm sorry if I am neglecting my other stories. I really want to turn my attention to this one, because from here on out, it gets much more interesting. Trust me! So ya…Chapter 14! –Sniv**

"A girl." I repeated.

"Yes…a girl." Bello groaned. "What part of that…do you not understand?"

A new thought began to form in my mind. _If I could defeat the "weapon"…then I could really be an officer! Not just some lowly trainee. I'm going to beat that girl. _

"Bello, I'm going in." I said, standing up. Bello's eyes widened.

"No…Koya…don't!" I ignored him and turned around, then ran up the steps, Absol following close behind.

There was still smoke coming out of the doors when we reached the top. Coughing, Absol and I entered the building, unprepared for what we were about to see.

Officers, lying unconscious on the ground. Looker was near a wall, his lab coat in tatters. And in the middle of it all was a black and blue Pokémon, a ghost, a rock snake, and a girl.

With two scars cutting an X across her face.

I felt like a giant weight had been dropped on me.

"No…" I said, pinching myself. "No. You aren't here! You aren't really here, are you?"

The girl shook her head, looking at me with calm eyes.

"YOU AREN'T HERE!" I yelled angrily. "YOU AREN'T! I TRUSTED YOU!" Some of the officers began to stir, but I ignored them and focused on the matter at hand. "PHOENIX! YOU AREN'T HERE!"

Phoenix shook her head again. The black and blue Pokémon growled.

_Lucky? _I thought. _He evolved…into Luxio._

But for the ghost, which was a Haunter, and the rock snake, an Onix, I had no idea how she had gotten those.

Except for the time when she threatened my dad with an Onix. So she hadn't been kidding.

"Koya…" Phoenix said, so softly that I could barely hear her. "Listen to me…"

"NO!" I screamed. "I TRUSTED YOU, PHOENIX! HOW COULD YOU JOIN TEAM GALACTIC? I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! YOU….YOU'RE EVIL! THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE!"

"No I'm not…"

"I DON'T CARE!" I yelled.

Then, I did something that I shouldn'tve done.

The same thing that alienated Growlithe.

The whole reason why I was in the International Police in the first place.

"PHOENIX! I challenge you to…a battle!"

_A reckless battle…_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Okay." Phoenix said. Onix slithered forward, leering at me.

"Absol." I looked over at it. "Let's go." Absol nodded and walked forward into the shadow of Onix.

"Onix!" Phoenix commanded. "Use Rock Slide!" A barrage of rocks came flying down at Absol.

"Detect!" I yelled. Absol jumped out of the way of the rocks that were falling down from the ceiling.

"Knock Absol down with Iron Tail!" Onix swung its tail and sent Abosl smashing into the ground.

"ABSOL!" I cried.

"Finish with Headbutt!" Onix reared up and charged into Abosl, sending it flying. It hit the wall with a sickening crunch.

"No…NO!" I yelled. I quickly recalled Absol and sent out Piloswine.

"Onix, come back." Phoenix said. "And Haunter, go!"

"Piloswine, Ice Shard!"

"Cut with Shadow Ball." The Shadow Ball cut through the stream of ice, causing an explosion. A big cloud of dust covered the battlefield. When it cleared, Philoswine was lying on the ground.

"PILOSWINE!" I cried.

"Asleep." Phoenix said softly. "That's all." She smiled.

"How?" I asked. Then it hit me. _Haunter knows Hypnosis. So she must've had it put Piloswine to sleep while the dust was still out. _

"Haunter, Dream Eater!" Haunter grinned and stuck out its tongue. The tongue stuck onto Piloswine, and both Pokémon began to glow as Haunter sucked the energy out of Piloswine.

And all I could do was watch.

"Now, finish with Nightmare!"

**A.N. Yes, Nightmare is a high-level move…but please. We're talking about a girl who just kicked the asses of the International Police. So it makes sense that her Pokémon would be high-leveled. **

Piloswine began to shake in agony as Haunter used Nightmare on it.

"Pi…lo…PILO! SWINE, PILO!" Piloswine was shaking and crying out, and it was only getting worse at the power of the Nightmare intensified.

"STOP!" I screamed. "STOP!"

Phoenix nodded. "Haunter, enough." Haunter looked crestfallen, but stopped the attack.

It was too late. Piloswine had already fainted.

_Absol and Piloswine are both down. _I thought as I recalled Piloswine. _But Metang is still able to fight. And she doesn't have a Pokémon that's good against Steel types. _With that conclusion, I sent out Metang.

Phoenix raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. Haunter backed up, and Lucky came in to take Haunter's place.

"Metang, use Ice Punch!" I yelled.

"Lucky, use Swords Dance to block!" A circle of swords sprang up and surrounded the Luxio, protecting it from the Ice Punch.

"Shoot." I muttered. "Metang, Meteor Mash!"  
"Swords Dance!" Phoenix commanded. Metang's attack was once more blocked by Lucky.

"Why won't you attack already?" I yelled in frustration.

"If you want me too, I will." Phoenix said, and an unsettling smile spread across her face. "Lucky, Fire Fang!"

"WHAT?" I yelled. "Metang, get out of the way!"

But once more, I was too late. Metang fell to the ground with a resonating _thud. _

"H-How?" I asked, falling on my knees. "How? You've always lost before!"

"I let you win." Phoenix said quietly, walking over to me. "I could've beaten you easily, Koya. "

"T-Then why?" I said, starting to shake. "I wouldn't have minded…I wanted you to win!"

"You wanted Growlithe to end up like your Pokémon now?" Phoenix questioned. "Koya, you love your Pokémon. It's easy to tell. And besides…the last thing I would've wanted to do was crush your spirit."

"I-I-I…" Everything seemed to be spinning. _I had lost. Phoenix had been letting me win. She was stronger than she said she was__**. **__She's part of Team Galactic. __**She's part of Team Galactic. SHE'S PART OF TEAM GALACTIC. **_

__With all that information being thrown in my face, I did the most logical thing I could think to do.

I blacked out.

**A.N. Awww, poor Koya! Y'ever have those times where you just want to give a character a hug? /hugs Koya **

**Anyway, what do you think? I'm really excited for the next few chapters! Also, I have an important announcement: The Fight Over Rosa is discontinued. I just lost touch with that story, know what I mean? I'll write more VisorShipping and SequelShipping drabbles. And maybe even HughxNate. Idk, really. So yeah, sorry if you read that story. If there's anyone who wants to keep it going on their profile, just PM me, because I'd be happy to let anyone do that, just so long as you don't totally trash it. **

**Well, that's it for now! Chapter 14 coming soon! -Sniv**


	13. Chapter 15: Phoenix's Note

**A.N. HI! Had some problems updating a while ago, but it's all good! Yay! So, on to Chapter 15 with haste! Again, since I've been forgetting: I don't own any characters used here (except for Bello and Phoenix). Let's start! WITH HASTE! –Sniv**

I woke up in a bed looking at a gray ceiling.

"Hey, Koy-Koy!" Someone to my right called. I looked around and saw Bello, who was lying in the bed next to me. He had numerous bandages on his face and his arms. "You sure took your sweet time getting up!" Bello laughed, pulling at the green shirt he wore in place of the jacket, which was currently hanging on a bedpost.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, by the time that I felt well enough to stand up, I walked back into the building, and saw you unconscious on the ground, and a girl wearing a uniform slipping something into your pants pocket. Then, she looked up at me and said 'You're Bello, right?' I told her that I was, and she nodded and healed all of your Pokémon. After that, she walked over to me and said 'Tell Koya that I'm sorry.' Then, she recalled her Pokémon and walked away." Bello recalled. He looked over at me. "You okay over there?"

I ignored him and slipped my hand into my right pocket. Nothing there. I tried my left pocket, and my hand came out with a folded-up piece of paper.

"Read it!" Bello said, rolling out of his bed and walking over to me.

"No." I snapped. "I don't want to hear what she has to say."

"You know her?"

"No."

"Then how did she know your name?"

"She knew yours."

"Yeah, she probably looked that up! But why would she heal your Pokémon and leave you a note? Koya, you know her, don't you?"  
"I SAID THAT I DIDN'T!" I yelled, crumpling up the note. "SHUT UP, BELLO!" Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. _What's wrong with me? _

"Koya." Bello said firmly. "As your instructor, I demand to know what is going on with you and that girl. How do you know a member of Team Galactic?"

"You're curious." I snarled. "Read the note." I thrust the note in Bello's face and rolled over on my left side. _I don't care about Phoenix anymore. _

"Hey," Bello put a hand on my back. "Koya, you should read the note. It's meant for you, not me."

"Go away." I snapped, a few tears making their way down my cheeks. My shell was starting to break open.

The next thing I knew, I had been rolled over onto my back and looking up at Bello, who was looking back at me with concern.

"Just read it, okay?" Bello said, placing the note in my hand. "I think that's what she wanted you to do."

I glared at him, but unfolded the note anyway. It was written in messy handwriting and had a few crossed-out words.

_ Koya, _

_You know my secret now. And I'm sorry that I never told you, but I wanted to keep you from knowing for as long as possible. _

_I liked being friends with you. We are still friends, aren't we? I hope that we are. This is a bit of a big thing, but anyway…you know what I mean right? _

_Truthfully, I've been with Team Galactic since I was little. You know how my dad's name is Cyrus? He's the leader of Team Galactic. So he decided to drag me into it. Trust me when I say that it's terrible. _

_And the last thing that I wanted to do was fight you, Koya. It's true that I did let you win, but you were really happy when you did. __I wanted to make you happy. Because I liked seeing you happy. It made me feel better about all the awful things that I had done. If I was making other people suffer, I should at least balance it out by making someone happy. And if I couldn't please my own wretched father, I would've had to please someone else, right? So I decided to let you win all of our battles. And I didn't care. I at least felt good that I could make someone that I really cared about happy._

_ Does that make at least a little bit of sense? I'm really sorry, Koya, I really am. That's not the way I would've chosen for you to find out, y'know? Please forgive me for this. But if you don't, I won't be surprised. We're enemies now, aren't we? Yeah, we are. That stinks. _

_ You're still my friend, Koya, even if you don't want to be. I liked spending time with you. It was really fun. _

_ Bye. _

_ -Phoenix_

I felt like I had been slapped in the face.

"Koya?" Bello asked. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine." I replied.

"You're shaking," he said. "What's wrong?"

"I said, I'm fine!" I repeated, trying to regain control of myself. "Bello?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to be alone."

"Right now?"

"Yes." Bello nodded and pulled the curtains around my bed closed.

I rolled over in my bed, still holding Phoenix's note in my hand. I pulled up the blankets up to my face. A few more tears began rolling down my face, and they were soon joined by more, until I was crying hard, but in complete silence.

_You're not evil. _I thought to myself. _Phoenix, you're not evil. I'm sorry. _

**A.N. Well, that's Chapter 15! LET US EXIT! WITH HASTE! Hahaha, just wait! There's a huge time skip coming up, so keep that in mind! Please! Faiefja;eifj;e WE ARE GETTING TO THE GOOD PART! As always, I don't own anything, and if you would please review, that would make me very happy! So please review! C'mon people, Chapter 15. 1 review. Can we change that? -Sniv**


	14. Chapter 16: Sniv's Time Skip

**A.N. **

** Hello, everyone! So, this "chapter" doesn't have any real events happening, it's just me talking. But don't skip this, it's really important. **

** At the end of Chapter 15, Koya and Phoenix are both eight. At the beginning of Chapter 17, they will both be about 13. Since the manga that they come from doesn't give any specific ages, I just did some guessing. **

**AGES FOR CHAPTERS 17-END**

_**Koya-13**_

_** Phoenix-13**_

_** Hareta- 11**_

_** Mitsumi- 16**_

_** Jun- 16**_

_** Kaisei- 29**_

** There's about a five year time skip. See, I did say that there were a lot of time skips. This is the biggest, and most possibly, the last. (If there are anymore, they'd be about a day or so). **

**/****time skips**

**A few other things that you should know: **

**-Koya and Growlithe have reunited, so Koya's actually nice and not an asshole. Yep, spoiler alert. I won't say how, so if you're curious, check out the manga. I DEMAND IT. **

**-Phoenix is a member of the International Police. **

**-Team Galactic has been destroyed. (or has it? Spoilerish alert!)**

**I think that's about it. So I'll shut up now, and you can go ahead to Chapter 17! **

**-Sniv**


	15. Chapter 17: Tournament Meeting

**A.N. Hello! Yep, it's me again, even though I got a whole chapter to myself. ^-^ **

**Hahaha. Anyway, one more thing. In volumes 6-8, Hareta and the gang participate in the Sinnoh Tournament. We never find out who actually wins (read the freaking book people). But we're going to say, for this story, that nobody won. (read the book and you'll see why this makes sense. I'll give you a hint: Volumes 6-8 are the Platinum Chapter. See if you can figure it out). **

**Okay, I'll shut up now! ONTO THE STORY! –Sniv**

The second Sinnoh Tournament that I had participated in was under way. Hareta, Mitsumi, Jun, Kaisei, Professor Rowan and me were standing in the bleachers, next to the railing.

"I'm so pumped!" Hareta yelled. "I'm going to win this tournament!"

"Not if I can help it!" I laughed. "I'll win this year, Hareta."

"Actually, you'll both loose!" Jun said with a smirk. "Because this year, I have a super powered team!"

"You three are certainly excited." Mitsumi remarked.

"Why shouldn't we be?" Jun asked. "IT'S THE SINNOH TOURNAMENT!"

"YEAH!" Hareta and I yelled.

"That's the spirit!" Kaisei, Hareta's dad, cheered. "That's exactly what you all need!" He sent a significant look at me, and I knew what it meant.

A few months ago, I was a jerk who only thought that winning was important. A perfect win was all that mattered. But since I had Growlithe back, I had started changing a bit. I didn't care so much about winning as having fun, like I had before Growlithe was traumatized.

I looked down at Growlithe, who was sitting on the ground. I picked him up.

"You ready, Growlithe?" I asked. Growlithe nodded.

"HEEEEEEEYYYYYYY, TRAINERS!" The announcer yelled.

"Looks like he's really pumped too." Mistumi observed. Rowan nodded.

"It's hard not to be." Professor Rowan said. "It's a tournament, after all!" He turned to look at Jun, Hareta, and me. "I'm expecting good things from you three." We nodded.

"HEEEEY!" The announcer yelled again. "Well, folks, we've finished with the preliminary rounds! You are dismissed for lunch! The first few rounds of the actual tournament will begin in a few hours, so get yourselves fed! That's all! Matchups will be posted in a few minutes!" Everyone in the stadium cheered.

"Should we go check out the matchups?" I asked once the general crowd of people had left.

"Yeah, then we can get lunch!" Hareta cheered. Everyone nodded, and we went out into the hallway to go find a matchup board.

"Over there!" Kaisei pointed. "There's a board! Oh. Someone's already there."

"It's just one girl." Jun said. "And it's just us three that have to check out the board, so there really isn't any point in all of us going over." He raised his eyebrows. "Wonder what happened to her, though!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, putting Growlithe down on the ground.

"She's got some crazy looking scars." Jun laughed. "One on her arm, and two on her face. They kinda make an X over her left eye. Other than that, she's kinda cute…" He said thoughtfully.

"WHAT?" I yelled.

"Well, Koya, if you like her, you'd better be careful. She's got a Luxray too!" Jun grinned. "I didn't know that you had hormones."

_Luxray? Scars? Jun thinks that I don't have hormones? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE? _

"I have hormones!" I snapped.

"What're hormones?" Hareta asked in confusion.

"Then go and talk to her!" Jun said, ignoring Hareta and giving me a shove.

"I-I can't do that!" I said. "She's not even…cute! Seriously, Jun!"

She was wearing a red short-sleeved shirt, black leggings, and had a red sweater tied around her waist. There was also a black shoulder bag with Pokéballs attached to the strap. She also had red boots, white wrist guards, and a Luxray walking at her side.

"Damn!" Jun grinned. "You won't talk to her because you don't think that's she's cute? You must really like her to say that!"

"I NEVER SAID THAT!" I yelled. "I NEVER SAID THAT I LIKED HER!"

"Koya, calm down!" Hareta said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's just a girl."

"Yeah, but…"

"Fine!" Jun grinned, playing with his hair. "If you don't want to make the first move, Koya, then I'll do it."

"You go ahead." I grumbled.

Jun nodded and strode confidently in her direction.

"This isn't a good idea." Mitsumi said. "Koya, why didn't you want to talk to her, anyway?"

Just then, the girl punched Jun in the face.

"Maybe I like my face the way it is." I rolled my eyes.

Jun was trying to do…whatever the hell Jun does around girls. Whatever it was, it wasn't working too well. The girl socked him in the stomach, causing Jun to get a date with the floor instead. Jun got up slowly and staggered over to us again.

"She like a younger version of you, Mitsumi." Jun groaned. "She looked like she was going to Buneary-Punch me if I didn't leave her alone."

"You might get punched again." Rowan said. "She's coming over here now."

"Oh, no…" Jun said, hiding behind Hareta.

But the girl didn't want to punch Jun after all. She was heading straight for me.

"She might have the hots for you too, Koya!" Jun hissed. In return, I punched him in the face again. "What was that for?"

"Just saving her the trouble." I smirked, just as the girl came up to our group. She was about my height, but a little shorter, and she seemed to be looking me over with her brown eyes.

"Say something!" Kaisei hissed, poking me in the back. I turned around and glared at him, but when I turned back, the girl was smiling.

"Hi, Koya!" She laughed, smacking me in the arm.

Jun's mouth dropped open.

**A.N. Oh, Jun, you're such a pervert. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter (even if it was a bit obvious). And yep, Koya has hormones. Who knew? -Sniv**

**SHUT UP. –Koya**

**HAHAHAHA. Well, review, please! And I don't own any characters used in this chapter, except for Phoenix! -Sniv**


	16. Chapter 18: Hallway Confrontation

**A.N. Hi! So, I decided to rewrite this chapter, because I didn't like the way that it went. Seriously, I hated it. Blarp. Enjoy Chapter 18, ver 2.0! I don't own any characters, except for Phoenix. Let's get started! –Sniv**

"Hi, Phoenix." I muttered, rubbing my arm.

"Wait, you know her?" Jun asked in amazement. "Koya, how can a hormoneless loner like you have a girl for a friend?"

"JUN, I HAVE HORMONES!" I yelled. Phoenix laughed.

"You do?" She smirked. "Really? Never would've pegged you as that type, Koya."

I rolled my eyes. "You haven't changed very much."

"Well, neither have you." Phoenix chided, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You're still the grumpy, serious, and frowny Koya from six years ago."

I frowned at her. "I don't frown, Phoenix."

"Koya, who is this person?" Hareta asked. "And how do you know her, anyway?"

I turned around to face the group. "This is Phoenix. We've been friends for a while. And I don't care that she's a girl, Jun, so shut up before I punch you."

"I feel very welcome." Phoenix muttered. She then brightened up as she looked around. "Oh, hi, Sumi!"

"SUMI?" Everyone said. Mitsumi sighed and shook her head.

"You're still going to use that nickname?" She asked.

Phoenix smiled. "'Course I am! Why wouldn't I? Just because we haven't seen each other for five years doesn't mean old informalities can't be reused."

Mitsumi shook her head again. "You really haven't changed that much, have you?"

"I like to think I have." Phoenix shrugged. "More than I can say for some people." She laughed, giving me a shove.

"Shut up!" I snapped. "I have changed." Jun snickered.

"Well, you two do seem to be very good friends." Kaisei remarked, eating popcorn that he'd gotten from Arceus-knows-where. "You're arguing a lot, at least."

"Like an old married couple." Professor Rowan added.

"PROFESSOR!" I yelled, while Phoenix started laughing. "We aren't...aren't..."

"Dating?" Hareta supplied innocently.

"WE ARE NOT DATING!" I cried.

Mitsumi sweatdropped. "Well, as long as you're catching up, why don't you two get lunch together? We'll meet you back here when the tournament restarts."

"Yeah!" Phoenix said. "What do you think, Koya?"

"Sure." I muttered, shooting a death glare at Jun, Kaisei, and Hareta.

We started walking away, and I heard Jun mutter: "Just so long as it doesn't lead to anything immoral..."

I sighed. Who knew having a girl for a friend could cause so much trouble?

**A.N. And that's a wrap! Cripes, Jun, you're such a pervert! Well, his father is kind of one too. Like father, like son, I guess. Anyway, if you'd read the first draft of Chapter 18, did you like this one better? I know I did. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't like the way that the other one went. Oh well! Phoenix and Koya are going to have lunch together! Ehehe...SacrificeShipping. ISH ME LIFE, PEEPS! ****Bali! -Sniv**


	17. Chapter 19: Exposition over Lunch

**A.N. Hello, friends! Welcome back. So corking to see you. Well, not really. I can't see you. Also, as a side note, this chapter is an explanation of Phoenix's side of the story (Chapters 7-14), so it's mostly exposition. You could skip though this chapter if you wanted to...but if you don't want to, go ahead and read it. It's kinda long, but oh well! Enjoy le chapter! And I don't own any characters…blah blah blah. –Sniv**

"So where do you want to go?" Phoenix asked as we walked out of the stadium.

I shrugged. "Wherever you want to go. I really don't care."

"You're still shrugging," she laughed. "Never had the chance to get your shoulders screwed down, huh?"

"What?" I looked over at her. "Oh. They aren't loose, okay?"

"If you say so."

"Well, I do!"

We walked in an awkward silence for a while, which was a little strange. When we were kids, that wouldn'tve really happened. But given the five-year gap…it wasn't like we could go back right where we were.

_That probably wouldn't be the best idea. _I thought, looking over at Phoenix again. The only thing that had changed about her were the clothes that she wore. Her personality had remained untouched.

"Hey! Policeboy!"

_Why couldn't she have forgotten about that?_

"You still here?"

"I'm here." I muttered.

"Good!" Phoenix cheered, grabbing my hand. "Now c'mon! We're going to have lunch, remember?"

I sighed.

"And stop sighing." She commanded. "That's pointless. It's a waste of breath."

"You're the one talking a mile a minute." I pointed out.

Phoenix stopped walking and let go of my hand. "Koya, is everything okay?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Everything's fine."

"Well, it's just that…you don't seem happy to see me. It's not like I was expecting you to anyway…" She took a breath and continued on. "But I missed seeing you."

"I'm happy to see you." I said, smiling. It wasn't a real smile.

She shook her head at me. "Liar. You're not really smiling. No one can go from quiet to smiling that fast, especially not you."

"What? Of course I'm smiling!" _Why am I saying all this? I'm happy to see her again, right? Team Galactic's gone! She's not an enemy! I'm not mad at her anymore, right? PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, KOYA! _

Phoenix raised her eyebrows. "You aren't. Koya, really. Is there something bothering you?"

"I…" My fake smile disappeared into a real frown. "I'll tell you when we eat. Okay?"

She nodded. "Fine. Oh, and I was wondering something, too."

"What?"

"I'll tell you when we eat."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

We ended up going to the Tournament Café for lunch. It was crowded with tournament participants and spectators alike, but thankfully there was no sign of Hareta, Jun, or Kaisei.

"So what is it that's bothering you?" Phoenix asked as we sat down at a wooden table.

I looked down at my lunch: soup, water, and bread. Sure, I had said that I would tell her when we ate, but now? No, not really.

"You go first."

Phoenix raised her eyebrows. "Seriously, Koya. What's bothering you?" She asked through a mouthful of sandwich.

"Team Galactic." I muttered in an undertone.

"What?"

"Team Galactic." I said, this time a little louder.

"What?"

"Team Galactic!" I almost yelled.

Phoenix sighed. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"I…I don't know. I read the note." I said, before Phoenix could ask. "I did. And I'm sorry that I called you a traitor, but…I think I still am mad. Mad because you never told me. And mad because you let me win all the time, even when you could've destroyed me."

An apologetic smile had stretched across her face. "Well, you did read the note. I wasn't allowed to tell you what I was doing. I think your mother knew, though." I stiffened up at the mention of my mom. "She knew that I wasn't a good influence, though. Everyone did."

"But we were both outcasts! Me, because of my eye color, and you…"

"Because my father was shady." Phoenix finished, taking another bite of her sandwich. "And I've always thought you didn't deserve to be an outcast. Eye color is such a stupid thing to judge people on. You look at someone's eyes, and say 'Oh! They have green eyes. Green eyes aren't good.' That's just ridiculous. How can eye color tell you what kind of person someone would be?"

"Horoscopes." I said quietly, tearing a piece of bread and dunking it in my soup.

"Those damn country asses will believe anything." Phoenix wisecracked. "Which isn't saying much for us, because we're damn country asses too. Although, I've always thought of myself as a damn country bitch who thinks of everything the other way around."

**A.N. Okay. I'm just going to step in here and say something. This isn't meant to make fun of people who live in the country. Rather, it's just Phoenix poking fun at herself for what she believes and how it differs from what other people in Twinleaf Town believe. **

"Can we get back on the main topic?" I asked. "And you are a country bitch, Phoenix. I'm not going to disagree with you there."

"I've been acknowledged," she laughed. "But you're right. We were outcasts. And when my dad came in with his Weavile…" She paused. "That was shown even more. No one cared about what happened to us."

"Why did he want to kill me?" I questioned.

"Cyrus saw you as a threat, Koya. A threat to his beautiful organization that would save the whole world from it's own problems. But he just didn't understand." She bit into her sandwich again and chewed thoughtfully. "He didn't understand what it meant to have someone that you really cared about. A friend, if you will. He didn't love my mother. She didn't love him. The only reason that he married her was so that he could have an heir to his organization. And he didn't love me, either. I was that one part in his 'perfect' plan. Only because I was different from everyone else, and I thought different from everyone else. And when you came into the picture, it messed things up even more for him."

"Because we were friends?"

Phoenix nodded. "I think that what he believed is that if we became close enough friends, then I would tell you what I was really doing. And who I really was. So a few weeks before he tried to kill you, he told me that if I kept spending time with you, he would know. And he would hurt you in some way."

"You still did, though."

"Well, I couldn't just start avoiding you with no explanation. I didn't have any plans to do so anyway. I liked spending time with you, Koya. It was really fun."

"I…it was. Really."

"Then my dad came along." Phoenix said, continuing her story. "And I was terrified when I saw him. I knew what was going to happen. If I had just listened to him, it wouldn't have. And when I was sitting in the hospital, I wished I had listened."

"Then why did you protect me?" I asked, dunking the rest of my bread in the soup. "You didn't have to. You wouldn't look like that if you hadn't."

"I'll put it this way: I'd rather have scars on my face than have your body in a graveyard. I'd rather have seen myself get hurt instead of you. And I knew that he wouldn't have killed me. That would defeat the purpose of my whole existence. At the time, I was one of the strongest commanders that he had. Why would he kill someone who could help him on to greatness? It'd just be counter-intuitive. And…Koya, I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to go through all of that. It was my fault."

"You're alive, and so am I. It doesn't matter now. And…I can't really say that it's not your fault now that you've told me all of this." I took a drink of water. "But thank you. I…I'm glad I'm not dead."

Phoenix smiled. "Good to hear it, policeboy."

"What was it you wanted to ask me?" I asked.

She nodded, then took another bite of her sandwich, and a little piece of lettuce fell out.

"When you came to the building as a police officer…where was Growlithe? All you had was an Absol, Philoswine, and Metang. No Growlithe. Did something happen?"

"Gyrados." I muttered. "I challenged a guy with a Gyrados to a battle, he used Surf, and…Growlithe was traumatized."

Phoenix's eyes widened. "By the surf?"

I nodded. "And it was my fault. I challenged an opponent who was too strong, and Growlithe had to pay the price. After that, I became a jerk who only thought that winning was important. But I got Growlithe back, thanks to Hareta. And I'm different now. I've changed. I'm not a jerk who only cares about winning. I can have fun."

She nodded. "That's good. And you know what, Koya? You and Growlithe are very close. It's easy to tell. I'm sure that Growlithe doesn't blame you for what happened. Accidents can happen."

"It wasn't an accident." I said, looking down at what soup I had left. "Your father was the one that I challenged. I was mad at him for what he did. And since I let my emotions get the better of me, Growlithe suffered. It was my fault."

Phoenix looked horrified. "That was…oh, Koya! I'm so sorry…"

I shook my head. "It's fine. Like I said, Growlithe's back now, thanks to Hareta."

"Hareta's one of your friends, isnt' he?"

"Yeah."

"Friends can help you do a lot, huh?"

"Yeah." I said again, looking around at all of the people in the café. People of all different ages, coming together to see who was the best Pokémon Trainer in all of Sinnoh. But you can make friends in a tournament. It's always going to happen, isn't it?

"You ready to go?" Phoenix asked, standing up.

I nodded, standing up as well. "Let's go kick people's butts in a tournament, Nix."

She laughed. "If we have to battle, I'm not going easy on you. Just saying."

"I don't expect you to anyway." I said as we walked out of the café.

**A.N. Happy exposition! Yay. Anyway, the tournament is about to start! HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT? It's very freaking awesome. Anyway, review, if you'd please! That'd be greatly appreciated! Bai, friends! -Sniv**


	18. Chapter 20: Surprise Participant

**A.N. Hi! I'm back with more! Sorry for not updating. **

**Also, for Shipping Insanity: It's been put on hold until I can finish this story first. Trust me, there are only a few chapters left, so if you follow that story, then you don't have very long to wait. Okay? **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. /sadness**

After lunch, Phoenix and I made our way back to the stadium. When we passed by the matchup board, Phoenix grabbed my arm.

"Might as well check…" She said, turning to look at the board. "Hm. Looks like I'm up against a guy named Jun. Name sounds kinda familiar…"

"That was the guy who tried to hit on you." I said, trying to find my own picture.

"Oh, yeah!" Phoenix laughed. "I remember him. Well, at least I'll get some payback."

"You punched him in the face at least three times." I remarked, still looking for my picture. "If that's not payback, I don't know what is."

Phoenix nodded. "Yeah, good point." She scanned the matchup board, then pointed at a picture. "There you are, Koya."

I looked at where her finger was pointing. I was matched up with a female trainer that I didn't know the name of.

"Hey!" Someone yelled. "Koya and Phoenix!" We both turned around and saw Hareta, Jun, Mitsumi, Professor Rowan, and Kaisei walking towards us.

"Hi!" Phoenix said cheerfully. "How was your lunch?"

"Delicious!" Hareta cheered. "But now I'm ready for the tournament to start!" He looked at the matchup board.

"Move over, you three!" Jun said, pushing Phoenix aside. His eyes stopped on a certain place on the matchup board. Jun's face turned stark white, and his eyes seemed to get bigger. "Oh…no. No, no no."

"I think he found his matchup." Kaisei deadpanned.

Jun looked over at Phoenix, fear written all over his face. "I have to face YOU?"

Phoenix smirked. "Yep. Hope you're ready for some payback!"

"But you punched me three times!" Jun said, looking at the board. "There's gotta be some mistake."

"Yeah, but I'll get more pleasure out of wiping the floor with you." Phoenix turned around and started to walk away. "See you on the battlefield!"

"She's just being overconfident." Jun assured himself shakily. "Overconfident."

"Not really." I said, looking at Jun. "Hate to tell you this, but I'd say you're gonna have a hard time."

"How do you know how strong she is, anyway?" Jun shot back, folding his arms across his chest.

"If it's any frame of reference, she's about as strong as I am." I muttered. If it was possible, Jun paled even more.

"Hey, guys?" Hareta said, interrupting our talk. "How do you say this? It's Bellow, right?"

"What do you mean?" Rowan asked, looking at the board. "Oh. Hmmm…it does look like Bellow. Maybe you're right."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" I asked, looking at the board as well. Now it was my turn to pale. "Ugh…well, it's pronounced Be-yo."

"How do you know how it's pronounced?" Kaisei asked.

"Well…" I said slowly.

"HEY, KOY-KOY!"

Everyone stared at me.

"Don't say anything." I muttered. "Please don't."

"Koy-Koy?" Jun asked, a grin starting to spread across his face. "Koy-Koy?!"

"Shut up."

"KOYA!" I winced. "HEY!"

"He knows you?" Mitsumi asked. "That guy who's running over here?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sadly…"

All of a sudden, I felt myself being lifted up in the air, then slung over someone's shoulder.

"Hey, Koya!"

"BELLO! PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW OR I WILL PUNCH YOU!" I screamed. I knew I was acting like a little kid, but…right now, it didn't really matter all that much.

"Hey, you all!" Bello said cheerfully. "You must be Koya's friends!" Everyone was staring at Bello with wide eyes and open mouths. "I'm Bello!"

"Put. Me. Down." I growled. "NOW."

"Naw." Bello grinned. "Don't be such a sourpuss, Koya."

"I'M NOT BEING A SOURPUSS! NOW PUT ME DOWN BEFORE I PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!"

Bello shook his head. "No, not until you ask nicely." I sighed. "Now, let's see here. Hareta! Okay, sounds fun!"

"You're facing me!" Hareta cheered. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah!" Bello cheered. He held out his hand for a high five. "Good luck!"

Hareta returned the gesture. "You too!"

"ARE YOU GOING TO PUT ME DOWN OR WHAT?"

**A.N. Yes, everyone, at the very last minute, I decided to add Bello! Wasn't part of my original plan, but hey. Why not?**

**Also, the reason that I don't give a lot of description is because I like to leave the setting and/or appearances of characters up to the readers' imagination. That's why. So, if you have an idea of what the setting is, or what Bello looks like (I'll describe him later) then go ahead and use it! It's more fun that way. **

**Bai! -Sniv**


	19. Chapter 21: Jun vs Phoenix

**A.N. Well, the tournament is kicking off with Jun vs. Phoenix and Hareta vs. Bello! Who will win? READ AND FIND OUT! Bum ba bum. **

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. **

"LAAAAADDDDDIIIIIEEEESSS AND GENTLEMEN, GET READY FOR THE MOST EPICEST TOURNAMENT BATTLES THAT YOU WILL EVER WITNESS IN YOUR ENTIRE LIIIIIIIIIVEEEESSSS!" The announcer screamed. "OUR FIRST MATCH WILL BE JUN VS. PHOENIX!

The whole stadium erupted into cheers.

"Wonder what he had for lunch." Mitsumi remarked.

On the battlefield, Jun and Phoenix were standing on opposite sides.

"I've got a foolproof plan to beat you." Jun smirked.

"Good for you." Phoenix smiled. Then she laughed. "I don't have a plan at all! So this should be fun, huh?"

The whole stadium went dead silent.

"She doesn't have a plan?!" Mistusmi cried. "How can she not have a plan in a tournament?"

"I don't know." Rowan said seriously. "But she might be saying that to trick him. Or, she might be serious and not really have a plan."

Back on the battlefield, Jun stared. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

"Nope!" Phoenix laughed. She took out a Pokéball threw it into the air. Out came a Togekiss. "So stop gawking, and let's start!"

"Toge!" Togekiss cheered, flying in a circle.

"Fine!" Jun growled, and threw out a Pokéball. His Staraptor burst from the ball.

"STARRR!" Staraptor cried.

**A.N. For this fanfic, Gen 6 battle rules are being used, so Togekiss is a Flying-Fairy type. **

"Battle…begin!" The referee called.

"We'll start this off!" Jun yelled. "Staraptor, Steel Wing!"

"Star!" Staraptor's wing's began to glow, and it rushed at Togekiss with incredible speed.

"Togekiss, intercept with Aura Sphere!" Phoenix commanded.

Staraptor's wings connected with the glowing sphere.

"Starrr!" Staraptor cried, falling back.

"While it's down, use Dazzling Gleam!" Phoenix yelled.

"To…GEEEE!" Togekiss cried, its body beginning to glow. A glittering pink pulse swept across the battlefield, sending Staraptor crashing down to the ground.

"Staraptor, shake it off!" Jun commanded. "You can do it!" Staraptor slowly stood up.

"STAR!"

"That's the spirit!" Jun yelled. "Now, use Brave Bird!"

Staraptor shot across the battlefield with incredible speed heading straight for Togekiss.

"Use Thunder Wave!" Phoenix yelled. Togekiss shot a weak pulse of electricity at Staraptor.

That didn't slow down Staraptor, though. With incredible power, it slammed into Togekiss, knocking both down on the ground.

"Pretty impressive!" Phoenix laughed. "But we're still going to win! Togekiss, use Wish!"

A glowing star appeared above Togekiss's head.

"Wrong!" Jun yelled. "Staraptor, use Aerial Ace!"

"Togekiss, counter with Dazzling Gleam!"

The two attacks hit each other head-on, but only Staraptor was damaged.  
"STARRR!" Staraptor cried, falling on the ground.

"Wha-? Staraptor, get up!" Jun cried.

"Staraptor is unable to battle!" The referee called.

"AND TOGEKISS WIPES OUT STARAPTOR WITH A POWERFUL DAZZLING GLEAM ATTACK!" The commentator yelled. "WHAT WILL JUN'S NEXT POKÉMON BE?"

Jun muttered something under his breath, then took out a Pokéball and called Staraptor back. He stowed the Pokéball back into his bag, then brought out another. "Go, Torterra!" Jun yelled, sending out his Pokémon.

"Tor!" Torterra cried.

"Togekiss, return!" Phoenix commanded. She hooked the Pokéball back onto her bag strap, then took out another one. "Alright, Gengar! It's your turn!"

A Gengar popped out of the Pokéball, then jumped up and did a somersault in the air. "Gengar!"

"Okay! Torterra, use Magical Leaf!" A slew of sparkling leaves came flying at Gengar.

"Doge!" Phoenix yelled. Gengar disappeared into thin air.

"What? Where'd it go?" Jun exclaimed.

Phoenix shrugged. "Well, it is a ghost Pokémon! Now, Gengar, use Hypnosis!" A yellow beam of light came shooting out from nowhere, hitting Torterra head-on.

"HEY! WAKE UP!" Jun yelled at the now sleeping Torterra.

"Her strategy hasn't even changed…" I muttered under my breath.

"What do you mean?" Hareta asked.

"Well…if my assumption is right, she'll have Gengar use Dream Eater next. Same as last time."

Back on the battlefield, Jun was still trying in vain to wake Torterra up.

"Gengar! We'll skip the first part and just go straight to the second!" Phoenix yelled. "So use Nightmare!"  
Gengar extended its tongue and stuck it onto the sleeping Torterra. It then began to glow an eerie purple, and little orbs began traveling down its tongue.

"Torrr…" Torterra groaned. "TOR! TORRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

"Torterra!" Jun cried. "Torterra, snap out of it!"

"Gengar, finish it off with a Dark Pulse!" Phoenix commanded.

Dark rings began pulsating from Gengar, directly hitting Torterra.

"Torterra is unable to battle!" The referee called. "Gengar wins the round!"

"Jun's in real trouble now!" Hareta said. "C'mon, Jun! You can do it!"

Jun nodded. "We're not going to go down without a fight! Dragonite, let's go!" He threw out a Pokéball, and out popped Dragonite.

"DRAGO!" Dragonite yelled, pumping its fist in the air.

"Gengar, return!" Phoenix said, taking out Gengar's Pokéball and calling it back. "And Milotic! Your turn!"

She threw out a Pokéball and Milotic, a beautiful sea serpent came out.

"Phoenix has a Milotic?" Kaisei asked me. I shrugged.

"We'll make the first move-again!" Jun yelled. "Dragonite, Hyper Beam!" A bright beam of light shot out of Dragonite's mouth.

"Hold your ground!" Phoenix yelled, and Milotic jammed its tail into the battlefield. It was hit head-on with the Hyper Beam, but when the dust cleared, it didn't look like it had taken much damage at all.

"It still took damage!" Jun exclaimed. "Dragonite, follow up with Thunder Punch."

"Recharge, idiot!" Phoenix yelled. "Milo, Ice Beam!" A concentrated beam of ice shot out of Milotic's mouth, hitting Dragonite's wings. With a huge crash, Dragonite fell on the ground. "Now, finish it off with Surf!"

Dragonite was washed away with the sheer force of the wave that Milotic had conjured up.

Jun whirled around as Dragonite was slammed into a wall. "No! Dragonite!"

"Dragonite is unable to battle! Milotic wins the round, so the battle goes to Phoenix!"

"PHOENIX WINS THE FIRST SEMIFINAL ROUND WITH AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY OF CALMNESS AND UNPLANNING!"

"Again?" Jun muttered as he recalled Dragonite. "Well, at least I got into the semifinals this time…"

Phoenix recalled Milotic, then walked over to Jun's side of the field. "Nice job." She said, putting out her hand. "You're a really good trainer."

Jun nodded, putting out his hand as well. "You too. I'll be watching your next match."

Phoenix nodded, and the two Trainers shook hands. Then they both turned around and walked towards the doors that led in and out of the battlefield.

"ANNNNNNNDDDDD AFTER THAT EXPLOSIVE MATCH, WE HAVE HARETA VS. BELLO!"

The crowd began to cheer.

"Koya, what kind of a battler is Bello?" Jun asked, having rejoined the group in the stands.

"He's all over the place." I responded, looking intently at the battlefield.

"Should be an interesting match." Kaisei remarked.

"ANNNNNDDDDD TRAINERS! GET READY TO BATTLE!" The announcer yelled.

"So, are you ready?" Bello asked, taking out a Pokéball.

"Yeah!" Hareta cheered. "Let's do this!"

"That's the spirit!" Bello cheered, then tossed his Pokéball. A Magnezone came out, ready to battle.

Hareta threw his Pokéball out onto the battlefield. His Empoleon came out.

"Empoleon?" Mistumi asked. "Why Empoleon?"

Everyone shrugged.

"BATTLE…BEGIN!" The announcer screamed.

**A.N. AAAANNNNNDDDD…we're going to stop there. Anyway, Merry Christmas, friends! Even if you're reading this and it's not Christmas. Oh well. **

**And sorry that this took so long. I do not like writing battle scenes, but since it's Pokémon…it's quite hard to avoid it. Yeah. Bai! -Sniv**


	20. Chapter 22: Hareta vs Bello

**A.N. Hello, friends! Welcome back to Chapter 22! Also, another review has been posted to the story, so thank you ihateyaoi604! I will make an effort to do what you have suggested. Now, on to the story!**

**Disclaimer: Do I really need to say it? Well, support Nintendo and Game Freak, at least!**

"BATTLE…BEGIN!" The announcer yelled.

"Let's start this off right!" Bello cheered. "Magnezone, use Magnet Rise!" An electrified yellow cloud appeared underneath Magnezone, lifting it up off of the ground.

"That won't bother us! Empoleon, use Aqua Jet!" Hareta commanded. Empoleon shot at Magnezone with incredible speed, knocking it back. But when it came into contact with the Electric-Steel Pokémon, Empoleon was slightly electrocuted by the thunder cloud that kept Magnezone off of the ground.

"AND EMPOLEON IS CAUGHT OFF GUARD BY AN UNEXPECTED TRAP!" The announcer exclaimed. "WHAT A TRICK! HOW WILL HARETA RESPOND TO THIS DEVELOPMENT?"

Hareta frowned. "Well, if we can't make contact, then we won't! Empoleon, Hydro Pump!"

"I'm not making this battle easy for you!" Bello yelled. "Magnezone, use Light Screen!"

Just as the Hydro Pump was about to hit Magnezone, a shiny pink screen popped up in front of it, effectively shielding it from the Water-Type attack.

"We'll get it from all sides!" Hareta yelled, shifting to a new tactic. "Empoleon, use Surf!"

"Magnezone, block the Surf with Magnet Bomb!" Magnezone shot metal balls at the oncoming wave, but they were ineffective. Magnezone was swept away by the powerful Surf attack.

"Oh, good!" Kaisei said, nodding his head while chomping on popcorn. "He got a blow in."

"It looks like Magnezone took a lot of damage too!" Mistumi added. "Keep it up, Hareta!"

Back on the battlefield, Bello changed tactics. "Magnet Bomb, again!"

"Dodge it with Aqua Jet!" Hareta commanded. Empoleon efficiently dodged the Magnet Bomb, then came in and struck Magnezone with an Aqua Jet.

"This is turning out great for Hareta!" Jun said, leaning against the railing of the stands. "If he can keep this up, then he's got a good chance of winning!"

I frowned. "Maybe. But Bello's an agent. He can't be taking it this easy on Hareta without a good reason."

"Well, he's not like you." Jun retorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I shot back.

"Focus, you two!" Professor Rowan chided. "Don't start arguing now."

Hareta cheered. "Nice, Empoleon! I've got a great feeling about this!"

Bello laughed, looking over his battered Magnezone. "You've really got skill, Hareta." He brushed a strand of brown hair out of his eyes. "But we've still got our secret weapon, right, Magnezone?"

Magnezone, who had previously been on the ground, lifted up into the air again. "Magne!"

"So now's a great time to use it!" Bello yelled with a sweep of his hand. "Magnezone, use ZAP CANNON!"

"WHAT?!" Hareta cried. "Empoleon, get out of the way, fast!"

A huge ball of charged electricity was hovering in front of one of Magnezone's front magnets. "MAGNEZOOONNNEEE!" It cried as it hurled the attack at Empoleon, who hadn't managed to get out of the way in time.

"EMPOLEON!" Hareta yelled as Empoleon took the full attack. "Hang in there!"

Bello frowned. "It can't possibly hang on after an attack like that! Oh, and nice job, Magnezone!"

With great effort, Empoleon managed to stand up. "You want to keep going?" Hareta asked. Empoleon nodded. "Okay! It's up to you."

"We'll finish you off with a Magnet Bomb!" Bello yelled. "Go, Magnezone!" Magnezone began hurling metallic balls at Empoleon.

"Okay, Empoleon!" Hareta yelled. "Let's finish them off with a MASSIVE TIDAL WAVE SURF!"

**A.N. For those of you who don't know, in the manga, Hareta has a tendency to nickname battle-deciding moves, ie. "Mega-Volcanic Bide Power" or "Raging Rapids Hydro Pump". **

"What?" Bello said. "What kind of an attack is that?"

A humongous wave of water went tearing across the battlefield, washing away Magnezone's Magnet Bomb, and crashed into Magnezone, sending it flying back.

"Magnezone!" Bello yelled, turning around to look at his fallen partner.

"Magnezone is unable to continue!" The referee yelled. "Empoleon wins the round!"

"Crap!" Bello muttered, calling Magnezone back. "Guess we're not going to have as easy of a time as I thought we would."

"Yeah!" Hareta cheered on the other side of the battlefield. "Empoleon, you can rest!"

Bello took out another Pokéball. "I've gotta say, Hareta, you're not bad at all!"

Hareta did the same. "You ready for round two?"

Bello tossed his Pokéball, calling out his Camerupt. "It won't be as easy to beat us this time!"

Hareta called out his Luxray. "Good! Hard battles are much more fun anyway!"

"What type is Camerupt, anyway?" Jun asked.

"Fire-Ground." Professor Rowan said. "If Hareta kept Empoleon in, he'd have a major advantage against Bello."

"But Empoleon took major damage in the battle with Magnezone, so Hareta is smart to use another Pokémon." Mitsumi observed.

"Okay!" Hareta yelled. "Misdreavus, let's go!" He threw the Pokéball, and the Ghost type popped out. "Misdre!"

"Your move, Hareta!" Bello called.

"Alrighty! Misdreavus, use Shadow Ball!" Hareta commanded. A blob of shadow was hurled across the field towards Camerupt.

"Intercept with Flamethrower!" Bello yelled. A column of flame shot out of Camerupt's mouth, colliding with the Shadow Ball. The resulting explosion covered the battlefield in smoke.

"Now, use Stone Edge!" Out of the smoke, sharp rocks came hurling straight at Misdreavus, sending it flying back.

"Hang tough, Misdreavus! Use Spite!" Hareta yelled. The smoke was beginning to clear, and little glowing purple balls danced around Misdreavus.

"Crap. Use Flamethower!" Camerupt shot another column of flame at Misdreavus.

"Dodge, then use Skill Swap!"

"You've just lost an advantage!" Bello laughed. "Use Earth Power!" Pillars of flame shot out from under the ground, burning Misdreavus badly. The Ghost Pokémon fell on the battlefield, swirls in its eyes.

"Misdreavus is unable to battle! Camerupt wins!"

"Yeah! Nice job, Camerupt!" Bello cheered.

On the other side of the field, Hareta recalled Misdreavus. "You did well. Now, Empoleon! Come on out!"

"Are you sure that you want to do that?"

"Yeah!" Hareta yelled. "Empoleon, Surf with the Torrent Ability!"

Another huge wave of water shot across the battlefield, completely wiping Camerupt out. "No, Camerupt!" Bello cried. He returned Camerupt to the Pokéball. "Last one! Go, Lickylicky!"

A giant Pokémon with a huge tongue came out of the Pokéball. "Lick!" Lickylicky cried, waving it's tongue around.

"Empoleon's faster, so we'll use Hydro Pump!" Hareta yelled. "Let's go, Empoleon!" Empoleon shot a jet of water out of it's beak, heading straight for Lickylicky.

"Use Protect!" A shield erupted around Lickylicky, protecting it from the strong Hydro Pump.

"Follow up with Surf!" Another huge wave of water swamped the battlefield. Lickylicky had taken down its shield, and was swept away by the strong surge of water.

"NO!" Bello cried. "Lickylicky, stand up! Please, we can't loose now!" Lickylicky shakily stood up, but fell down after a few moments, swirls in its eyes.

"AND HARETA WINS WITH AN IMPRESSIVE AND WELL-DONE SWEEP WITH HIS EMPOLEON, MAKING USE OF THE POWERFUL TORRENT ABILITY!"

Bello sighed and called back Lickylicky, then walked across the field to Hareta and Empoleon. "You two…had I known how strong you really were, I wouldn'tve held back at all. Nice job, Hareta!"

"You too!" Hareta cheered. "This was fun!"

"Definitely!" Bello smiled. "I'll be watching your next battles!"

"WELL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, GET READY FOR THE NEXT ONSLAUGHT OF SEMIFINAL BATTLES!" The announcer yelled as Bello and Hareta exited the battlefield. "GET READY FOR THE AWESOMENESS TO CONTINUE!"

**A.N. Chapter 22, done! Sorry if it got a little boring at the end. I don't like writing battle scenes, and I wanted to move the story along, so I decided to have Empoleon sweep Bello's team. Yeah. Anyway, until next time! Bai! -Sniv**


	21. Chapter 23: Small Matchup

**A.N. Hello, friends! Chapter 23, and we're getting closer to the big important part! EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE! XD so yea…this might be a little short. **

**Disclaimer: Pokémon, I don't own.**

The tournament progressed on, until…

"Oi, policeboy." Phoenix said, elbowing me in the side. Hareta, Phoenix and I were checking the matchups for the next round of battles. "We're facing each other next."

"What?" I said, looking for my picture on the board. Sure enough, it was connected with a thin red line to Phoenix's picture. "Oh, boy…"

"Better watch out!" She laughed. "Like I said, I won't got easy on you."

I smiled. "Well, I wouldn't expect you to anyway. Who're you facing, Hareta?"

Hareta was examining the board closely. "I'm up against a guy named Fabio. Should be pretty interesting!"

Phoenix nodded. "We'll all do our best, 'kay?"

"Okay!" Hareta cheered.

"Yeah." I said.

"WE'RE GONNA ROCK THIS THING!" Phoenix yelled, waving her hands in the air. "M'kay, I'm going for a walk." She turned around and started walking towards the stadium exit.

"Don't be late!" I yelled after her.  
"Why would I?" She yelled back. "I can't wait, Koya!"

"Well, neither can I." I muttered under my breath, already forming a strategy in my mind.

This time, our battle would be different.

**A.N. Yeah, this one was really short. I'm sorry about that. But the next one is where things start really getting interesting. Okay? Hopefully that will compensate. Bai for now! -Sniv**


	22. Chapter 24: A Sinister Guest

**A.N. Okay. Important chapter here. THIS IS WRITTEN IN PHOENIX'S PERSPECTIVE. OKAY? SO THIS ISN'T WHAT'S HAPPENING TO KOYA, IT'S PHOENIX. OKAY? LET'S START. LALALALALALALA I LIKE CAPS. **

**Disclaimer: I LIKE CAPITAL LETTERS AND STUFF.**

I walked outside of the area and sat down on a bench a ways away from the main entrance. It had certainly been an interesting day so far. I took Lucky's Pokéball off of my bag strap and looked at it. "Well, you ready to face Koya?" I asked.

The ball shook in a "yes"

"Yeah, I'm excited too." I smiled. "It's nice to see him again after such a long time. He does seem a bit different, though. In a good way."

The ball shook again. I unclipped Steelix and Gengar from my bag strap. "We can't let our battle end up like last time." I told them. "Let's have fun this time, okay? There's nothing hanging in the balance this time. And even if we loose, it doesn't matter."

The three balls shook in understanding.

"Good." I said with another smile. There was a rustling in the bushes near the bench. I clipped Lucky and Gengar's Pokéballs back onto my strap and held out Steelix's in front of me. "What's there?"

A sinister, yet familiar laugh came from the bushes. "You!" I hissed, standing up. "What are you doing here?"

The owner of the laugh stepped out from the bushes. The owner was a short and chubby man with short, spiky purple hair. He was also pretty darn old.

His name was Charon.

"It's certainly been a while, Phoenix." He said.

"I thought that you'd been arrested." I frowned. "That's what Looker said, at least."

"Ah, yes. A Superintendent-ranked agent such as yourself would know these things."

I frowned. "How did you know that I work for the International Police?"

"I've been tracking you ever since you ran away, something Cyrus never found out about. I saw you receive a Chimchar from Professor Rowan after you showed up at his lab, your uniform covered in blood and torn up. I saw you take on all eight gyms and walk into the International Police base in Twinleaf Town and ask for a position. I saw you take a Battle Test and destroy your opponents, placing you in the Superintendent rank. I've been monitoring your activity for five years, Phoenix. And now I want you to come back."

I shook my head. "Come back where?"

"Team Galactic." A small smile stretched across Charon's face. "You will be under my control. You'll be my secret weapon, and together, we will conquer the whole Sinnoh region."

"You're nuts." I snapped, shaking a little. "I'd never work for you."

Charon's smile grew even bigger. He pushed his spectacles farther up his nose. "Well, I had a feeling you might say that. So I'll make my offer a little more interesting. You come with me, and succumb to my control, or Koya is going to have, shall we say, a few unfortunate accidents."

Disturbing images starting running through my mind. Koya. He'd hurt Koya if I didn't come with him. I sighed.

Charon knew my weakness.

"I know how much that boy matters to you, Phoenix. Therefore, I know what you're going to say."

With a heavy heart, I nodded.

"I'll go with you."

**A.N. Yes, that is Phoenix's one weakness. Threaten Koya, or even any of her friends, and she'll do anything you ask her. Which may sound a little weird, but think about it. I mean, she doesn't trust a lot of people, so of course she'd want to protect the ones that she did trust and care about. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Bai! -Sniv**


	23. Chapter 25: An Unexplained Absence

**A.N. HEEEEELLLLOOOOOO! What's up, friends? Chapter 25! WOOO! Maybe another review? Possibly? I'm pretty satisfied with the three that this story has gotten so far. But if a few more people could review the story before it ends, that would be awesome! **

**Disclaimer: This is getting redundant. **

The time for Phoenix and I to battle was finally here. I walked down the stairs to the battlefield, arriving on one of the platforms.

But Phoenix wasn't there.

The spectators started muttering to themselves.

"What's taking her so long?"

"Absolutely no respect for the tournament…"

"Why's she late?" Hareta asked. "She said that she wouldn't be!"

"Yeah…" Jun agreed. "Something might've happened."

Back down on the battlefield, I clenched my fist. Phoenix late for a tournament battle? That wasn't like her at all. Did something happen to her?

"WELLL…" The announcer sighed. "IF PHOENIX DOESN'T SHOW UP IN TWO MINUTES, IT WILL BE ASSUMED THAT SHE HAD FORFITED AND KOYA WILL MOVE ON."

I gulped. That wouldn't be fair, especially if something had happened to Phoenix. Did something happen to her?

_"M'kay, I'm going to go take a walk." _Did something happen to her while she was taking a walk? That might've been possible.

"ONE MINUTE LEFT!" The muttering had grown into full-blown talking. I must've looked so stupid standing on the battlefield, all alone.

"What a disgrace!

"That was the Trainer with the scars right?"

"Absolutely pitiful!"

"That kid is so lucky…"

"AND THE TWO MINUTES IS UP! KOYA WINS BY FORFIT!"

I sighed and walked off the battlefield. Where was Phoenix?

As I approached the second-floor stands, the rest of the group ran up to me.

"Where is she?" Mistumi asked.

"I don't know!" I responded, an unusual feeling beginning to rise in my chest. "She said that she would go take a walk before the next round began, and..." I paused to take a breath. "I didn't see her leave, I just saw her walk away!"

"Koya's right!" Hareta agreed. "I saw her walk away."

"This is like a mystery show…" Jun muttered. "Do you think that someone kidnapped her?"

I shook my head. "No…she'd never agree to something like that."

"But technically, kidnapping isn't something that the kidnapper asks about beforehand." Kaisei said.

I gulped. "Yeah…I don't know…"

"Excuse me?" Someone said. Everyone turned around. There was a little girl with purple hair standing behind me. "Are you Koya?"

I nodded.

"I'm supposed to give this to you." She held out a note, and I cautiously took it out of her hand. With the delivery being done, she walked away.

"Read it." Rowan said. "It might give us a few clues."

I unfolded the note.

_Dear Koya,_

_ I'm sure that you've noticed by now, if my messenger did what she was supposed to do, that Phoenix didn't show up for your battle. _

_ Such a shame. _

_ But regardless, I have a little clue for you as to where your friend is. _

_ Come to Veilstone City, and if you wait on the 20__th__ step of the Team Galactic building, something will happen. _

_ I won't say what. _

_ You'll find out soon enough. _

_ Although, you might see a few people that you know. _

_ I won't say anything else. _

_ And because I'm a nice person, I'll give you one more clue. _

_ Do you remember how you were reunited with Growlithe? _

_ Well…all I'm going to say is, dejá vu. _

_ Ta-Ta for now!_

_-Charon_

"No." I growled.

"Koya?" Hareta asked. "What did that note say, anyway?"

"I'm going to the Team Galactic building." I snapped, crumpling up the note.

"But the tournament!" Jun exclaimed. "What about that?"

"You can stay if you want." I shot back. "But I'm leaving."

"Does the note have anything to do with Phoenix?" Mistumi asked.

I nodded.

"What does it say about her, then?"

"Phoenix is in the Team Galactic Building with Charon." I said, starting to walk away from the group. "He kidnapped her."

"I told you!" Jun yelled triumphantly.

"And something with Growlithe too." I added.

"But Growlithe's here!" Hareta pointed out.

"He said something about dejá vu, alright?! I don't understand what he means by that, but…" I stopped. Dejá vu meant something happened again, like a certain event in the past.

Charon had controlled Growlithe with a machine.

Did that mean…?

I started to run towards the stairs.

"Koya, wait!" Someone yelled. "WAIT!"

I didn't stop for whoever yelled.

Phoenix was in Veilstone.

And if what I assumed was the case…

Nothing good could come out of that.

**A.N. EHEHEHEHE THE STORY IS HEATING UP! DUM DUM DA DUM. Anyway, read and review? I'll probably edit this chapter sooner or later. Bai! -Sniv**


	24. Chapter 26: A Brief Update!

**Heyyyyyy!**

**It's Sniv!**

**So yeah, nothing is happening in this chapter. **

**BUT I GET TO TALK SO YAYYYYYYY! **

**I love to talk. ^-^**

**Okay, so this is basically a little notice for anyone who is following this story. **

**I'm super SUPER sorry that I haven't been updating! **

**Like, really sorry. **

**I'm in the middle of volleyball season, and on top of that, I have Science Fair. **

**(And, come to think of it, I should be working on my project now…but whatever. I'll do it later. XD procrastination). **

**Also, I'm going to start rewriting this story. **

**I don't like the direction that it has taken, and most of the chapters don't make very much sense in the story. **

**Like, they make sense individually, but not together. **

**And I don't think that I've captured the character's personalities very well. **

**But I've also been reading the manga like a nut, so that should help. **

**Mmmmm…nuts. **

**Especially peanuts. **

**Okay, so anyway, bai for now! **

**Rewriting will be starting very, very soon. **

**At least, after the Science Fair is over. **

**/mentally cusses out Science Fair**

**Hugs, **

**Sniv**


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